Moscow greeted the performance of the Astana Opera Ballet Company at the Kremlin Palace with warm applause and shouts of ‘Bravo’! The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, presented by the Kazakh ballet company as part of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Russia, received high reviews from theatregoers and music critics.
A bright and exciting story unfolded at the famous venue, taking the audience back to the time of the legend of Khan Ghirei, tender and poetic Maria, passionate and jealous Zarema. Thanks to the professionalism of the Kazakh ballet company, the dramatic ballet performance staged by the artistic director of the ballet company, People’s Artist of Russia Altynai Asylmuratova played out in fresh colors. It was sustained in the classical ballet traditions, but at the same time turned out not to be boring and illustrative, but harmoniously combining keen drama and a diverse emotional palette.
The skill of the main characters strengthened the theatregoers’ impressions: Maria performed by Astana Opera’s principal dancer, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Madina Basbayeva was very convincing, with excellent technical work and acting skills worthy of the greatest praise. Anastasia Zaklinskaya’s Zarema turned out to be memorable, and each of her individual dances carried a complete meaning and was a full-fledged monologue that served as a continuation of the storyline. Daniyar Zhumatayev and Kuat Karibayev’s portrayals of Vaslav and Nurali were a great victory. The dancers deeply felt their characters and conveyed their personalities with nuance and multifacetedness. Performing Ghirei’s part for a dancer is a serious claim for strong acting, which Turlykhan Toigan undoubtedly handled excellently. He showed Ghirei’s ‘rebirth of the wild soul’, which occurred at the cost of an innocent victim.
As for the design of the production, the key phrase for its description can be “a work of high art”. It was created by the outstanding Italian set designer Ezio Frigerio, the Academy Award-winning costume designer Franca Squarciapino, as well as lighting designer Vinicio Cheli and projections designer Sergio Metalli.
“In the last 10 years in Russia, there have been regular efforts to reintroduce dramatic ballet productions to the repertoire, both in Moscow, in St. Petersburg, and in the provinces, but, unfortunately, they always look stillborn. There has always been a feeling that this aesthetic has died. That the dancers are not able to feel it, the performance breaks up into separate dances and mise-en-scènes. At Astana Opera’s performance, I saw for the first time that a dramatic ballet looked completely alive, as if it had been recently staged for these dancers, that it was organic for them, that it was interesting for them to exist in it. Almost all dancers have excellent talents, excellent technique, and excellent school. The choreography looks at a high level. I would especially like to note wonderful character dances. And not just the Tatar dance, most often everyone performs this dance well. However, Polish dances even at the Mariinsky Theatre do not look up to par, but you have a very lively Polish act. All Polish dances are done with superb body frame and arms, and at the same time legs are not lagging behind.
The Kremlin Palace stage is very difficult. It is fiendishly difficult to ‘conquer’ it. The Fountain of Bakhchisarai looked great on this stage, absolutely fitting in it. It is surprising that for the dancers there is no unnatural relationship between the stage and the hall, they occupy this space, which usually no one knows how to occupy,” the leading Russian ballet critic Anna Galayda gave her assessment of the performance.
“The performance of Boris Asafiev’s The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, without exaggeration, became an important event in the cultural life of the Russian capital. Let us start with the fact that classical dance aficionados had the opportunity to see Rostislav Zakharov’s masterpiece, which has not been staged in Moscow for many decades. Moreover, it is done in the original version, carefully revived by Altynai Asylmuratova. Certainly, we were really impressed by the general level of the ballet company’s training, and the skill of the performers of the leading parts, who can rightly be called global scale dancers. Maria performed by Madina Basbayeva is incredibly delicate, ethereal. The ballerina’s dance is so airy that she seems almost unearthly. Their duet with Vaslav (Daniyar Zhumatayev) captivates with exquisite beauty, romance and at some moments it literally makes you hold your breath, the dancers perform the most difficult lifts so masterfully and elegantly. Anastasia Zaklinskaya (Zarema) is a ballerina with an excellent dance technique, and at the same time a wonderful actress, creating a truly tragic portrayal. Turlykhan Toigan (Khan Ghirei) also has incredible acting skills. As for Kuat Karibayev (Nurali), this dancer impresses with his expression, drive, temperament and, of course, phenomenal technique.
Astana Opera’s The Fountain of Bakhchisarai is a true classical ballet theatre in its highest manifestation, when the performance is thought out and constructed to the smallest detail, both directorially and choreographically, when the soloists are really magnificent, and the mass dances are impeccably performed. At the same time, the set design also meets the highest criteria,” the ballet critic Marina Dolganova concluded.
The tour was a great success, achieved by the effort of a large creative team. The performance enthralled the audience. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Russian Federation Yermek Kosherbayev and many other famous personalities were in attendance. Meanwhile, the enthusiastic audience expressed great hope for the next meetings with the Astana Opera team.