On October 6 and 7, the most enchanting theatrical premiere took place at the Astana Ballet Theatre – the national fairy-tale “Ot Qyz” accompanied by the symphony orchestra of the theatre under the baton of maestro Arman Urazgaliyev. Mukaram Avakhri choreographed the production, Bakhyt Kairbekov created the libretto, and Karina Abdullina composed the music. The premiere performances were a raving success – with continuous applause and calls of “bravo”, the audience did not let the artists and authors of the production leave the stage for a long time.
“The production began with an idea of our art manager, and we buckled down to it with enthusiasm. I think the performance turned out to be for children. Because the very expectation, the very idea was focused on creating a national performance for children,” choreographer Mukaram Avakhri shared.
The libretto is based on images from Turkic mythology: the myth of the archer Mergen, who struck the Sun. He was narcissistic, boastful and thus brought chaos to the universe. The country of Tall Grasses suffers from his rashness, the young princess Ot Qyz disappears, and a long winter comes. Realizing what he has done, Mergen understands that he needs to correct it and return light and warmth to the world.
“The name of the production is the name of the grass. This symbol is very deep, because the first coming grass has meaning for the nomad. This is what they are waiting for and do not dare to trample on. This is about the law of nature, about the greatness of the steppe, about the need to take care of nature and people. When the plot was formed, we decided that Karina Abdullina should write the music for this ballet. Due to her picturesqueness, her expressiveness, her colours and lightness, this ballet appeared before the audience in all its glory,” the choreographer added.
“The story of “Ot Qyz” began about 2 years ago for me, after the resounding success of my ballet “The Arcana of Fate” at the Astana Ballet Theatre, I will always be grateful to this theatre for believing in me as the author of serious works. Cooperation with Mukaram is always a delight, but, above all, it is a great responsibility, she is a very talented person, and at the same time very diligent. Of course there were some difficulties, but this was part of the creative process. The most difficult piece for me was the scene of fight between the Dragon and the main character, but in the end it was this scene that became the dramatic culmination of the production. It was very important for me to work with the national libretto, because I really love Kazakhstan and everything related to it, and I wanted to express in music my attitude to our homeland, our culture. Due to this, a lot of beautiful national melodies were created. I believe that this ballet will be even more successful than my first ballet,” Karina Abdullina said.
“This is not the first time when I and our team, in particular, the orchestra, work with Karina Abdullina. My personal opinion is that, first of all, she is a wonderful melodist. This is heard in the music at once. Her music is easy to remember, this is probably one of the main components of her success,” Arman Urazgaliyev said.
Many talented figures of art took part in the creation of a new choreographic work: stage designer and costume designer Aigerim Altybassarova; assistants to the stage designer and costume designer Askar Iskakov and Nataliya Protasova; lighting designer Denis Solntsev; video artist Nurlan Abishev.
“We have a fairy-tale plot, but still there is something from the Saka period of the Kazakhs in the costumes. We also wanted to add something “haute couture”, so that children would develop a good delicate taste and a desire for the beautiful. We tried to do a lot of handicraft, so the costumes turned out to be colourful and interesting. The “hints” of the Golden Man, an important symbol of Kazakhstan, were added to the main character’s style,” Aigerim Altybassarova, a stage designer and costume designer, shared.
On the first premiere day, the main roles were performed by the following artists: Ot Qyz – Nazerke Aimukhametova, Mergen - the archer – Sundet Sultanov; on the second day – by Anar Dukiyeva and Erkanat Ermagambet. On both days, the role of Mergen - the groundhog was performed by Artemiy Seyalov, the part of the Sky Spirit was performed by Weslley Carvalho, Riza Kanatkyzy starred as the Goddess of the Moon, and Aigerim Kelemedenova starred as the Goddess of the Sun.
“Ot Qyz” is a new large-scale project of the theatre, which is designed to immerse the audience in the atmosphere of the national cultural heritage. The introduction of the national fairy-tale in the repertoire of the Astana Ballet Theatre is a significant event that will undoubtedly become one of the outstanding pages in the history of the capital theatre and another step in the development and promotion of the national theatre art.
The events were held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan.