NEWS
Best theatrical pieces from Turkic world theatres, including from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Altai, Kazakhstan, Crimea, Tatarstan, Tyva, Khakasia and Yakutia, will be presented. Kamal Theatre’s artistic director Farid Bikchentayev said the previous forum had greatly influenced the 2015 festival.
“The forum and Nauruz are known to alternate: one year it is the festival, the next it is the educational forum. The last year’s forum was focused on ritual. Judging by the programme, the last year’s forum was a great influence, as many shows this year are based on some kind of ritual.”
The purpose of the festival was to allow “ethnic theatres to find their own path”.
“After the Soviet Union collapse it was very difficult to do, because the Soviet theatre’s influence was very strong, so that local theatres tried desperately to detach themselves and were in a state of search. Nowadays, I think there is some certainty. The trend is to conserve one’s identity without missing the current European and Russian theatre influences. It will probably be the focus of this festival,” the director stressed.
An international conference themed Theatre Development Vector: Europe – Asia will gather prominent Russian and Turkic world theatre representatives, including from Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Hungary, Germany and Tatarstan.
The festival will for the first time revolve around a particular Turkic nation’s theatrical culture, the 12th Nauruz being dedicated to Kazakhstan.
“We want Kazakhstan to show what their theatre does and how their culture, traditions and rituals are reflected in the theatre. We will carry on with this tradition. Next year, it will possibly be Bashkortostan or Azerbaijan, we will see,” the festival’s artistic director commented.
Festival’s panel of critics member Niyaz Iglamov said the repertoire was diverse, featuring Shakespeare’s plays, ethnic parables, national classics and contemporary pieces.
The festival is founded by Tatarstan Culture Ministry with the support of Russia Culture Ministry, Tatarstan Union of Theatre Workers and Tatarstan Academic Theatre named after G. Kamal.
Competition in seven competences will be held on open-air sites. The total number of competences the finalists will compete in has substantially increased versus last year, from 36 to 55. Besides, two competences will be presented by Republic of Tatarstan.
The federal and local sponsors support the organisers substantially, Tatarstan Education and Science Ministry’s Department of Vocational Training chief Timerkhan Alishev said. The funding was the same as last year, 70-80 million roubles, he added.
This year’s new competences include stove setting, roofing, house painting, landscape design, prototyping, production automation, metal working, aircraft maintenance, and more. Each competence is required to feature at least three participants.
In average, each competence has 10-12 workstations.
A total of 510 contestants and 415 experts from 50 Russian regions have been entered in the competition as of the moment, nearly one fifth being Tatarstan residents.
The finalists will be provided accommodation at the Unviersiade Village, where they will be offered an entertainment programme. Participants from Finland and Morocco will compete out of the main competition.
All the assignments and criteria are available on the internet, Timerkhan Allishev said, so participant can start preparing a few months in advance.
The national championship’s agenda includes a great number of business conferences and round tables as well.
Kazan had filed a bid to host the 2019 WorldSkills Competition’s world championship’s final round, the official said, which was why official technical experts from as many as 35 countries had been invited to the 2015 event.
The idea to hold the festival had come up due to a heightened interest in tango among Kazan residents, Gulnara Khamzina, festival organiser, said. People are ready to learn the dance and watch the show. Tango is poetry, love, friendship, relations between a man and a woman.
“We thought Kazan was worthy of hosting an event of this level. We could not reject the chance of making it international. Travelling here from other countries is easy. Tango festivals like this are held in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. We called our festival Fuego De La Noche Kazan [the fire of the Kazan night]. We will receive five famous pairs with a teaching experience. We managed to invite a live orchestra. We want to draw the attention of the general public who have not yet touched on this culture,” Gulnara Khamzina shared.
No age limitations were imposed on participants, she added.
“Argentine tango is done by intellectual, educated people who have a profession. They are doctors, teachers, engineers and programmers. Age does not matter, because in tango a man holds a woman - and they dance. At a festival in Dubai I saw Muslims dancing the Argentine tango in their clothes. The dance allows to enhance the culture of communication between men and women. My main purpose is to introduce the Kazan audience to this culture and promote it.”
Some 3,000 people were expected to participate in the festival, she concluded.
The event was timed to coincide with International Museum Day marked on 18 May, he said. In 2007, Tatarstan hosted the drive for the first time, some 40 thousand citizens taking part in it last year.
This year, entrance to all the Tatarstan’s state-run museums is free. The museums will also arrange some extra events at a price.
The Day And Night At Museum’s this year’s theme is the 70th Victory Day.
The purpose of the campaign is to promote Russia’s cultural heritage and tell the younger generation about museums. To attract children, museums develop new techniques employing latest technologies and 3D visualisation.
The campaign’s main venues in Kazan will be Tatarstan National Museum, Tatarstan Fines Arts Museum, Contemporary Art Gallery and the Kazan Kremlin.
The event will run from morning till two the next morning.
In total, about 120 thousand tourists came to Kazan for the May holidays. Hotel occupancy averaged 90%, depending on the category. Other popular Tatarstan landmarks during the holidays were the Bulgar State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, which was attended by more than 9,000 people; the island city of Sviyazhsk, visited by nearly 12 thousand people, and the Yelabuga State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve, visited by 16
Between 15 and 18 October, Kazan will host a significant cultural event, Argentine tango international festival, whose participants will be world tango stars. Kazan Choreography School teacher Vera Zakamskaya, Paramartha fitness centre director Gulnara Khamzina, and others told a press conference at Tatar-inform about the event in detail.
The idea to hold the festival had come up due to a heightened interest in tango among Kazan residents, Gulnara Khamzina, festival organiser, said. People are ready to learn the dance and watch the show. Tango is poetry, love, friendship, relations between a man and a woman.
“We thought Kazan was worthy of hosting an event of this level. We could not reject the chance of making it international. Travelling here from other countries is easy. Tango festivals like this are held in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. We called our festival Fuego De La Noche Kazan [the fire of the Kazan night]. We will receive five famous pairs with a teaching experience. We managed to invite a live orchestra. We want to draw the attention of the general public who have not yet touched on this culture,” Gulnara Khamzina shared.
No age limitations were imposed on participants, she added.
“Argentine tango is done by intellectual, educated people who have a profession. They are doctors, teachers, engineers and programmers. Age does not matter, because in tango a man holds a woman - and they dance. At a festival in Dubai I saw Muslims dancing the Argentine tango in their clothes. The dance allows to enhance the culture of communication between men and women. My main purpose is to introduce the Kazan audience to this culture and promote it.”
The solemn military parade dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War will be held on Freedom Square. Start: May 9, at 10:00. In addition to the passage of military and technology, there will be concert program with participation of ensembles, creative groups and singers of Kazan and Tatarstan.
Additional night bus services after Firework show on 9 May
On 9 May, 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the work of Kazan public transport will be held according to the schedule of the weekend day. Bus services going to Yamashev Ave. will operate until 11.30 p.m. 70 additional buses will be operating near Victory Park from 8 p.m.