"Astana Ballet" theater will present a bright palette of national and modern culture of Kazakhstan at the VI St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, which will be held November 16-18. This year Kazakhstan received the status of "Guest Country": this special status will be an important step for development of joint cultural cooperation between Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.
The forum will traditionally gather about 20 thousand masters of culture and art, public figures, cultural experts from around the world: stars of drama theater, opera and ballet, outstanding directors and musicians, representatives of government and business, the academic community.
According to the organizers, the aim of the forum is to initiate, develop and implement national, interstate and global programs aimed at preserving and multiplying the cultural heritage of mankind. The extensive forum playbill promises to be very rich: along with a large-scale cultural program, the business site will operate in 14 sections. The festival program includes over 70 events (theater and cinema premieres, concerts, exhibitions and creative meetings). Traditionally, a separate business and cultural program will be presented by guest countries. This status underlines the special humanitarian relations between states, promotes the development of partner cultural projects and programs. In 2017, Japan and Kazakhstan will perform in this capacity.
The forum will feature performances by the best creative teams from Kazakhstan. On the opening day of the forum, the Russian audience will be presented with the gala concert "Astana Ballet Gala", in which the ballet dancers will demonstrate the most bold and original decisions of the choreographers of the theater in the language of dance. The program includes: bright and original choreographic miniatures "Legacy of the Great Steppe", one-act ballets "Love. Loss. Fear ","A fuego lento" and a fragment of the ballet "Cleopatra’s Triumph".
National choreographic plastics is one of the main ways of demonstrating a unique Kazakh culture. That is why national dances consistently decorate all the performances of the young theater "Astana Ballet". Dance compositions of the program "Legacy of the Great Steppe" reflect the boundless Kazakh steppe, richness of folk traditions, expressive music and unique artistic images. A profound ethnographic and imaginative story about the Kazakh identity in the language of dance has become the hallmark of the concert program, which has enjoyed the continued success not only at home, but also far beyond its borders.
"Love Fear Loss" (music about songs from Edith Piaf’s repertoire, choreography by Ricardo Amarante) is inspired by a story of extraordinary life of Edith Piaf and is permeated with the music of her songs. They, as in a mirror, reflected the famous singer’s relationship to different men. Piaf’s collected songs became a hymn of love and conquered the world. Each duet of the ballet is associated with feelings of affection and love, loss, fear.
Also, the audience will be presented with a fragment from the ballet "Cleopatra" (Music - Maurice Ravel, choreography - Nikolai Markelov). This is a story about a little-known period in the Egyptian queen’s life, when she is attracted to power, and starts fighting for the throne with her sister Arsinoe. Cleopatra and Arsinoe seek to attract the attention of the goddess of fate Lachesis - the goddess of fate and the ruler of human life. Lachesis owns the cherished symbol of power, which Cleopatra and Arsinoe dream to get.
The next neoclassical one-act ballet "A fuego lento" tells about the first feelings of anxiety and emotional heat when you just discover the power of love. A powerful wave of delight embraces the body, and desires slowly burn from the inside. For everyone the world is concentrated in the beloved person, and the meaning of life is in love (music - Lalo Shifrin, Astor Piazzolla, Carlos Gardel, choreography - Ricardo Amarante).
Tours of the theater "Astana Ballet" set a difficult task: worthy presentation of our country, its rich world of art through the "kaleidoscope" of dancing lexicon.