28/10/2022

Winning over countries: Astana Ballet will tour in Georgia for the first time

The Astana Ballet Theatre is going on tour to Georgia. For two days, on November 14 and 15, the capital collective will present a contrasting and simultaneously exquisite program, which includes “Salome” and “A Fuego Lento” one-act ballets, as well as the “Heritage of the Great Steppe” concert program, at the Zakaria Paliashvili Opera and Ballet State Theatre in Tbilisi.

“The tour in Georgia is very significant for us, it is a huge responsibility to perform on the famous stage for the first time, we want to show the high quality of ballet skills. We approached the choice of the tour program with special attention, and selected our main direction – modern and neoclassical ballet, as well as the pride of our repertoire – the national divertissement, acknowledged by the Kazakhstani and foreign audience. We hope that the creativity of the dancers and the entire theatre collective will remain in people’s hearts for a long time, and we will look forward to meeting with the audience,” said Alexandr Sovostyanov, director of the theatre.

It is worth noting that today Astana Ballet is one of the leading choreographic collectives of the Republic of Kazakhstan and has thousands of admirers all over the world. The theatre conducts active touring and concert activities both in the country and abroad: its dancers performed at the most prestigious venues in Beijing and Shanghai (China), Paris (France), Vienna (Austria), Seoul (Korea), Budapest (Hungary), Baku (Azerbaijan), New York (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Warsaw (Poland), Minsk (Belarus), Brussels (Belgium), Milan (Italy), Monte Carlo (Monaco), and Dubai (UAE).

On the first day, “A Fuego Lento” neoclassical ballet by Ricardo Amarante to the music of L. Schifrin, A. Piazzolla, C. Gardel, and S. Kosugi will be presented to the connoisseurs of high art. This is a liberal stretch of the choreographer’s imagination about love and desire. Each piece of the presented one-act ballet is a choreographic miniature with the elements of the most vigorous and sensual dance – tango, in which a special role is given to a virtuoso technique, genuine temper, and sincere feelings. After all, the only things that tango does not stand are dissimulation and falsehood, since there is no more reliable “lie detector” for our feelings and emotions than the embrace of a loved one...

On the same day, in the second part, the audience will be presented with an amazing performance “Salome” themed on the play by Oscar Wilde to the music of Fazil Say and choreographed by the chief choreographer of the theatre Mukaram Avakhri. The biblical story in the author’s interpretation will allow the spectators to immerse themselves into the vivid world of feelings, and the complex contrasting images of the main characters will provide an opportunity for the audience to lift the veil of mystery of the human soul. The choreographer asks eternal questions about the struggle between dark and light, but leaves them unanswered, offering everyone to make a choice for themselves. The performance culminates in the dance of young Salome – an episode of extraordinary popularity thanks to artists, sculptors, and composers who captured it in their creations.

On the second day, the capital collective will present the “Heritage of the Great Steppe” national divertissement staged by Honoured Figures of Kazakhstan Aigul Tati and Mukaram Avakhri. A unique collection of dance miniatures, which harmoniously combines ethnographic material and modern choreography, but simultaneously retains a sense of composition and unique originality of the national dance, is unexceptionally included in the theatre’s tour program. Aesthetics, spectacularity, and unique artistic images everlastingly sink into the heart and delight viewers around the world.

The tour will take place with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.