The series of premieres continues at Astana Opera. On December 15, in anticipation of Kazakhstan’s Independence Day, an evening of national choreographic numbers Nomad Ballet will be presented to the audience at the opera house’s Grand Hall, El.kz cites astanaopera .kz.
“In this premiere program, we focus on national numbers, striving to emphasize the beauty of Kazakh culture and the richness of its history. We have prepared new numbers and it is important to say here that now there is a great need to support and develop young talented choreographers. Among them is up-and-coming Sultanbek Gumar, whose creative work is very promising. Some of his works have already caused a resonance among the public and received good reviews from ballet critics.
In the future, we are planning to present another premiere project together with the Kazakh ethno-folk ensemble Khassak. These modern and creative guys carefully preserve national musical traditions, which is fully consistent with our concept. I am sure that these projects will find a keen response in the hearts of residents and guests of the capital,” Altynai Asylmuratova, the artistic director of the Astana Opera Ballet, said.
To reveal the essence of Nomad Ballet, the world ballet star, People’s Artist of Russia Altynai Asylmuratova, with particular thoroughness and sophistication, has put together a new program. Thus, the numbers by local and foreign choreographers harmoniously follow one another, making you feel the historical roots more deeply. The audience will get acquainted with them performed by the ballet dancers of the capital’s opera house. Thus, Anvara Sadykova’s production Sarmatian Priestess to the music of the alternative folk ensemble Steppe Sons will be presented by Amina Kissembayeva and ballet dancers. Shugyla Adephkhan, Dias Kurmangazy, Olzhas Tarlanov and Assel Shaikenova will perform the Adagio from the ballet Call of the Steppe staged by Patrick de Bana. Sultanbek Gumar will present another impressive number by this talented choreographer, Qily Zaman, to the music of the ethno-folklore ensemble Turan.
It should be noted that at this evening the audience will also have an opportunity to appreciate Sultanbek’s talent as a choreographer, because his original numbers, Mangurt, based on the theme of mangurtism from Chingiz Aitmatov’s works, and Rukh, reflecting the power of ancestors, will adorn the Nomad Ballet program. Limara Aidarova, Ruslan Kanagat and Islam Kaipbai will take the stage with these unique choreographic miniatures.
A special feature of the evening will be the premiere of the choreographic miniature Dem(Breath), created by a Ph.D. student of the Kazakh National Academy of Choreography Almat Shamshiyev. This talented choreographer is known to Astana Opera’s audience for his productions Assan and Usen and Zharmenke, created in collaboration with Anvara Sadykova. Almat Shamshiyev noted that the idea of the choreographic composition Dem was born three years ago specifically for Astana Opera’s dancers, and emphasized that the technique of performing the number is extremely complex. Bekzat Orynbayev, Raimbek Bolat and Doskhan Zaidin will introduce the new production to the audience.
“Life begins with a breath. Every living being that comes into this world goes through its own path with the desire to live, but sooner or later this breath is cut short. What will be the path of each of us? Will a person want to warm with his warmth, do good or fill life with evil – this is the philosophical view that determined the name of the creative production Dem (Breath). We know from history what changes the Kazakh people have gone through to this day. The goal was to convey that there is no need to follow disagreements and disputes, but to achieve peace and unity. People’s Artist of Kazakhstan, the founder of Kazakh stage dance Dauren Abirov left us a great legacy, including vocabulary and original plastique of the Kazakh male dance. Among the elements of his school is a movement called Aidaharsha Iіrilu (Dragon Writhing). When creating a new production, we took this movement as the basis for the choreographic text. Using the technique of performing Aidaharsha Iіrilu, we made it more complex by adding various elements. At the beginning, three characters, Water, Earth and Fire, demonstrate their strength. A confrontation begins between them, but in the end, the three heroes unite for a common goal. Now we are actively working on conveying my idea to the performers, their understanding of the content of the dance. I have high hopes for the dancers, because this production requires not only a demonstration of technique, but also conveying the image, the character of each movement in accordance with the music. For the author, the birth of a work is like the birth of a child, so I consider this event an important milestone in my life,” Almat Shamshiyev said, emphasizing that staging the dance at Astana Opera in anticipation of Independence Day is a great honour and joy for him. He also wished prosperity to our independent country.
In turn, the Astana Opera Ballet dancers congratulated all citizens of Kazakhstan on the upcoming state holiday and invited the audience to enjoy the refined atmosphere of art at the premiere of Nomad Ballet, filled with national zest. This entire program is a search for a new choreographic language in the Kazakh dance.
20th century masterpiece – the ballet Schéhérazade, staged by the celebrated choreographer Michel Fokine to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s music will also be presented this evening. The company’s principal dancers, Honoured Workers of Kazakhstan Bakhtiyar Adamzhan and Anel Rustemova, will perform the main parts of the Golden Slave and Zobeide. The Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra will perform under the baton of conductor Arman Urazgaliyev.