Beat of the Boroughs: NYC Online presents the Crimean Tatar Ensemble

Based at the American Association for Crimean Turks in Borough Park, Brooklyn, these extraordinary, multi-generational dancers and musicians share intricate folk songs, virtuosic instrumental pieces, and various group and solo dances from the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine. Nariman Asanov, band leader and president of the Association, provides a short history of the Crimean Tatars’ multiethnic origins and second generation dancer and singer Akhtem Esatov talks about the Crimean Tatar community’s history, his immigrant experience in New York City, and how the Crimean Tatar community has responded to the pandemic.