Idol performer of 'canto' songs passes away

Nurhan Damcıoğlu was the popular singer and dancer of the songs special to improvisational theatres during the 1970's who performed them on stage and then on TV channels.

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Nurhan Damcıoğlu passed away due to heart failure at the age of 82.

A theater and cinema actor, Damcıoğlu was the name that came to everyone's mind when one spoke about "cantos," the songs of the improvisational theatres, often comedies, named after canto/song in Italian.

She started her theater education at the age of 9 with the initiative of her mother who was working at the Ankara State Theater as a tailor. She was a member of the Radio Child Club there for nine years.

She started acting in plays at the age of 16. She came to İstanbul in 1965 and took part in plays in prominent private theaters of the city.

Here, she first listened to "canto" songs from Toto Karaca and started singing canto songs in 1969. She then stopped acting in plays, and started to sing and dance canto only.

She shared the stage with the most popular singers of the time in the famous Maksim Club.

Following the military coup of September 12, 1980, she was one of those who were prevented from performing. She was able to sing her songs to the public again after the emergence of private TV channels in the early 90s.

Besides her canto albums, Damcıoğlu acted in dozens of theater plays and films.

(EMK/PE)