ASTANA – The Astana Ballet theatre presented its last premiere for 2022, “The Snow Queen” – a ballet inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s much-loved fairytale that invited attendees to a winter wonderland on Dec. 3.
Riza Kanatkyzy as the Snow Queen and Sundet Sultanov as Kai. Photo credit: Astana Ballet press service.
The ballet begins with what promises to be one’s journey back to their childhood, where the icy queen meets the warmth and youthful innocence of Kai and Gerda. The story of love and friendship is sure to delight the whole family.
The ballet was choreographed by the honored artist and choreographer Heorhii Kovtun.
“The children of today are absorbing the world around them at an enormous rate. The task of adults is to discover and show the best sides of this world. In my opinion, a fairy tale is the first step to learning about life. I dream of magic, where the good always triumphs over the evil, where justice lives, where human vice is conquered by righteousness in the end, and where love always triumphs. This is what my new fairytale is all about,” said Kovtun.
The ballet tells a much-loved story of love and friendship to warm the hearts of the audience in a cold winter evening. Photo credit: Astana Ballet press service.
Set to the music of Radik Salimov, “The Snow Queen” is a universal treat for all ages. Salimov aimed to write the music for the ballet “in a way that appeals to both children and the inner child in each of us.”
“I don’t believe in adults, I believe in grown-up children,” said Salimov. “The art of it was to both unfreeze Kai’s heart and, first and foremost, the heart of oneself. There was a release of the inner child of one’s own, wanting to try everything,” said Salimov.
Costume and stage designer Zlata Circens put in a heroic effort working on decorations and aiming to entertain children “in a grown-up way.”
Over 200 costumes and eight changes of scenery were designed to frame every scene with memorable and incredibly meticulous details. Photo credit: Astana Ballet press service.
“Children have very delicate senses. If you treat them like adults and make realistic costumes and scenography, like for an adult, then I think it would be an initiation of children into great art and into serious creativity,” said Circens.
She designed more than 200 costumes and eight changes of scenery that frame every scene with memorable and incredibly meticulous details.
Conductor Elmar Buribayev said various kinds of genres could be found in the ballet. “You will hear allusions and references to the great classics of the past, a kind of intellectual game for the listener. Many instruments have been added, some are rather unexpected. You might even hear a rock guitar,” said Buribayev hinting at some of the stylistic techniques used in the ballet music.
Three more shows will be presented for the audience on Dec. 9, 10, and 11. “The Snow Queen” will return in the new year on Jan. 6, 7, and 8 as well.
