On May 19 and 20, on the stage of the Almaty Theatre, the capital's team of the Astana Ballet Theater, with a full house, to unceasing ovations and exclamations of "Bravo!" presented his high-profile premiere of the two-act canvas "Silk Road" choreographed by Mukaram Avakhri. The author of the libretto was the well-known Kazakh poet and screenwriter Bakhyt Kairbekov.
“The name of the chief choreographer Mukaram Avakhri is inextricably linked with our theater, the development and victories of which, of course, symbolize a new bright page in the national choreography. Each of her productions is unique in its inimitable plasticity, choreographic pattern; always resonates and gets rave reviews from our viewers and critics. And the "Silk Road" is no exception: it takes pride of place in the repertoire of our theater, and we are extremely happy to present it in Almaty. The performance merged the ways of dance and music, mixing styles and cultures. It uses a musical compilation, consisting of mesmerizing and smoothly changing motives of the countries and peoples through which the Silk Road ran. This performance leaves no one indifferent,” said Nurlan Kanetov, artistic director of the theatre.
In the ballet-meditation there is no main character, no built-in storyline, only a series of changing expressive images. They are amazingly "staged", therefore they become a source of inspiration, provide food for imagination, for the search for plastic solutions and choreographic images corresponding to them. The sequence of paintings and actions immerses the viewer in an endless journey in which ideas and meanings are born at the intersection of cultures.
“The theme of the Silk Road is incredibly fertile, and the more you immerse yourself in the idea of the performance, the more clearly you understand that it is inexhaustible and fantastically rich. The production uses choreography based on classical dance with elements of orientalism and oriental choreography, which gives the performance a symbolism and completeness of artistic images, making the dancer's body a manifestation of harmony, which is in unity with the music. Almaty spectators enthusiastically responded to the variations of the artists and appreciated the amazing story about the creation of silk and its great path,” says choreographer Mukaram Avakhri.
The choreographer collected the musical score from the works of three composers - Armand Amar, Vladimir Ivanov and Omar Faruk Tekbilek, the missing scenes were completed by the composer Renat Gaysin. The original scenography was created by Askar Iskakov, and the unusually beautiful costumes were created by the artists Assel Shalabayeva and Dina Buksikova. Visual effects under the direction of video artist Nurlan Kerey and lighting designer Robert Dautov are also aimed at conveying the director's artistic intention.
“In this performance, our main goal is to convey a thought through an image that would immediately evoke association with a certain culture. All images seem to float in front of the viewer, flow into one another, have an incredible hypnotic charm, but at the same time convey a bright and recognizable content and meaning, however, each viewer can give free rein to sensations and fantasies, comprehend and interpret this production in their own way, ”- shared the leading soloist of the theater Ainur Abilgazina.
The event was held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.