ALMATY – The Days of Kazakhstan Culture Festival in Turkey was another triumph for the Gulder (Flowers) Popular Dance Ensemble.
“I am very pleased that our troupe is invited to participate in this important event,” Ensemble Director Zhenis Seydullauly told The Astana Times. “We performed in a concert hall, in the Grand Cevahir Hotel and in front of students in Istanbul. A lovely and friendly atmosphere greeted us everywhere.”
The Gulder performers should be getting used to such welcomes. In recent tours, they also received warm welcomes and enthusiastic reviews in Belarus, France, Austria and South Korea. Their concerts have introduced foreign audiences to traditional Kazakh dances.
“The language of dance has no boundaries, it gives joy and esthetic pleasure to everyone,” Seydullauly said. “Each dance is a mini-play. In our “Parade of Beauties” performance charming dancers in traditional costumes appear on the stage and the audience loves it. The same thing happened during our tour in Austria, where the spectators didn’t let our artists leave the stage for a long time.”
The Gulder Ensemble was created in 1969. Many of famous Kazakhstan’s artists such as Roza Rymbayeva, Makpal Zhunussova, Nagima Yeskalieva, Kairat Baibossynov, Bakhyt Shadayeva and Zhenis Iskakov started their career here. Most of the multinational troupe is composed of graduates of the Seleznev Almaty Choreographic School. However, today dancers are selected from the Zhurgenov Kazakh National Academy of Arts and the Yelebekov Republican College of Variety Show and Circus Art, or they come from regional arts training centres. The main criterion in all these schools is professionalism.
The ensemble’s repertoire includes folk dances and classical ballet. Seydullauly said he seeks a golden mean or balance between tradition and innovation in his presentations. Thus the “Droplets Dance” combines folkloric elements in a ballet form. The ensemble preserves traditions but also introduces modern approaches to interpreting them.
The Gulder group will continue its tour at home in November when its artists will perform on the stages of Aktau and Atyrau.
