The Astana Opera Ballet will go on tour to Slovenia to participate in the 72nd International Summer Festival in Ljubljana. On July 1 and 2, the Kazakh ballet company will present to the Slovenians Aram Khachaturian’s outstanding creation – the ballet Spartacus. The tour will take place with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan, El.kz cites astanaopera.kz.
It should be noted that this is not the first tour to Europe for the capital’s collective. The Astana Opera Ballet dancers have successfully performed at various venues in Italy, Spain and many other countries. Everywhere the creative team presents programs prepared with great taste and skill by the artistic director of the ballet company, People’s Artist of Russia Altynai Asylmuratova. That is why the Kazakh company is easily remembered and loved by the foreign audiences. This year, at the request of the festival organizers, the team will perform a large-scale production of Spartacus.
“It not often that we go on tour, so we always prepare very thoroughly and responsibly. We grow and give our heart and soul in order to take our rightful place in the world ballet arena. The company’s growth is also ensured by the opera house’s rich and varied ballet repertoire, and certainly touring, taking part in festivals, especially those that attract international companies, music critics and cultural audiences who have seen the best foreign teams. This is the only way we can make our presence known and increase recognition of Astana Opera in the world,” Altynai Asylmuratova noted.
Astana Opera’s masterful principal dancers will present the heroes of the ballet Spartacus: Honoured Workers of Kazakhstan Bakhtiyar Adamzhan (Spartacus), Madina Unerbayeva (Phrygia), Aigerim Beketayeva (Aegina). Arman Urazov will portray Crassus and Serik Nakyspekov will perform the Gladiator. The performance of the Astana Opera Ballet will be accompanied by the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Abzal Mukhitdin, Astana Opera’s conductor, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan.
As a reminder, this celebrated ballet was staged at Astana Opera in 2014 by People’s Artist of USSR, laureate of the State Prizes of USSR and Russia Yuri Grigorovich. The outstanding choreographer very expressively conveyed the theme of the heroic figure of Spartacus and the slave uprising in Ancient Rome through the language of dance.
There is less than a month left before the start of the tour. Astana Opera’s dancers are preparing for the performance with great responsibility, because they want to present Kazakh ballet to foreign audiences at the highest level. The company’s principal dancer, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Bakhtiyar Adamzhan noted that Astana Opera Ballet can rival the strongest ballet companies in the world and the dancers have what it takes to dazzle the Slovenian audience.
“The fact that we show our art abroad has a positive effect on the formation of the image of our country. Therefore, Astana Opera should tour as often as possible,” Astana Opera’s principal dancer Bakhtiyar Adamzhan emphasized.
“In this vein, I think the festival in Ljubljana is not only a way to popularize a certain type of art, it is a way to attract many tourists to your country through culture, so what Slovenia is doing is for good reason. Last year, my colleagues returned from this festival with wonderful impressions. The participation of our opera house in such international events is, firstly, always an achievement of great success, and secondly, a wonderful opportunity for further development. High level, demonstrated by our ballet company a year ago, allowed us to perform the ballet Spartacus today. Unfortunately, I was not able to take part in this art festival at that time due to a busy touring schedule. This year, despite the fact that my performances abroad are tightly scheduled until the end of the year, I decided to postpone some of them and go to Ljubljana with my colleagues.”
Bakhtiyar Adamzhan added that we should strive to become regular participants in this festival.
It is known that these days, Astana Opera is hosting the Operaliya 2024 International Music Festival. Despite the fact that life in their native opera house is busy, the dancers manage to tour, representing Kazakh culture at the center of attraction of the best companies in the world. Thus, this will be Astana Opera’s final tour performance in the 11th theatrical season.