The Astana Ballet Theatre's tour in Almaty was a resounding success. Today, May 7, marks the final day of the capital's artists' tour, which began on May 2, according to our website.
Two new productions from the capital's ballet theater, premiered last year, were presented to discerning Almaty audiences on the stage of the Almaty Theatre.
Both performances are completely different in artistic form, but each is worthy of being seen and appreciated by audiences, noted the theater's artistic director, Nurlan Kanetov.
"Touring in Almaty is always a special event for our theater, and every year we look forward to meeting our beloved Almaty audience.
And they're waiting for us here, so we try to bring productions that audiences haven't seen before. Those performances that we haven't shown here before," he said.
The tour opened with the two-act ballet "Two Carpets," based on the beautiful ancient Azerbaijani legend of the Shirvan carpet. Alexander Mogilev directed and choreographed the production.
The love story of Samir and Leila, which began in childhood, has survived all trials - war and separation.
The carpet woven by Leila speaks of her deep feelings and experiences, a symbol of the fidelity and spiritual connection of lovers. After the girl learns of her beloved's death, the bright red colors of the canvas gradually fade to black.
Valery Kopeikin, the author of the libretto and the project's mastermind, explained that the play's events unfold in Baku, St. Petersburg, and Vienna, and that the beautiful love story will have a happy ending.
"We didn't let love die, we rekindled it. After the long-awaited meeting of Samir and Leila, a second carpet appears, one that began with black and ends with the colors of life." — Valery Kopeikin shared.
He also added that "Two Carpets" is not only a legend about love, but also a story about two incredible women - one did not come to terms with the loss of her beloved and kept her love, the other returned him to her beloved, giving up her feelings.
"You know, losing someone is very hard for a woman. And it's even harder to purposefully give your love away." — concluded Kopeikin.
The highlight of the capital's theater's tour was the ballet-cantata "Carmina Burana." The ballet was awarded the title of "Best Production of 2025."
The ballet, choir, orchestra, and soloists will merge into a single whole on stage. Fury, passion, drama, mystery, stunning expression, and the magical music of Carl Orff—the scale of the action unfolding on stage is beyond words.
This is undoubtedly the result of the team's colossal and coordinated work and the high professionalism of everyone involved in the stage cantata.
The choreographers were Mukaram Abubakhrieva (Avakhri) and Timur Zagidullin, and the conductor was Arman Urazgaliev.
"Here the orchestra is in the pit, the soloists are on stage, and the choir is very deep. They stand high up on stage, making it difficult for them to react to the conductor's gestures. I practically don't see them at times. Periodically, the scenery and the ballet dancers, who are also dancing, block the view.
But somehow, through rehearsals, through work, through professionalism on the part of the choir and ballet, with the artists and orchestra, of course, we managed it all,” shared Arman Urazgaliev, chief conductor of the Astana Ballet Theatre.
The young man and the young woman, the main central figures of the production, try to preserve the purity of their feelings, but temptations and trials await them.
Before us is a powerful and eternal clash of the forces of creation and destruction, embodied in the symbolic images of the Creator and the Tempter.
The delivery is based on the idea of the Wheel of Fortune as a symbol of the fickleness of fate and the vicious circle of life.
"So far, the premiere has only been in Astana, and now we've shown it to Almaty audiences. But I think this production has a great future—at least, I hope so."
We will definitely show this performance on the world stage,” noted the artistic director of the Astana Ballet Theatre, Nurlan Kanetov.
One of the key roles in the production of "Carmina Burana" was played by the theater's leading soloist, Wesley Carvalho. He moved from São Paulo to Astana seven years ago.
"I'm already a little Kazakh. I realized my dream here. Everything I wanted in my life, I got here, in Kazakhstan. I found a home here, I found a family. I love being on stage. Sometimes, of course, it's hard, but when I'm on stage, I forget everything," The artist admitted that he dreams of playing Romeo.
All of the Astana Ballet Theatre's performances in Almaty were sold out. Audiences remained on stage for a long time, generously showering the performers with thunderous applause and cries of "Bravo!"
The capital's artists brought a storm of emotions and indescribable delight to Almaty residents during their tour, promising to delight them with new productions next year.
