Astana Opera’s new, interesting creative project Theatrical Lesson, implemented jointly with the Nur-Sultan City Akimat for 9th grade children, starts on January 30th this year. Its goal is the aesthetic education of the younger generation.
To implement this project, Akimat took on an important mission of organizing schoolchildren and other important issues. We would like to emphasize that Astana Opera is actively involved in educational activities. Its repertoire features a variety of children’s projects and youth concerts. As a reminder, in his Address to the people of Kazakhstan, the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted, “Modern realities can be so dangerous for children that their energy and curiosity must be channeled in the right direction. After all, children are the future of our state.”
Akim of the capital Altai Kulginov noted the importance of the project jointly implemented with the opera house, “This will allow not only to instill moral and spiritual values and love of culture in students from their school days, but also to develop schoolchildren’s creative abilities.”
“Unfortunately, during quarantine, children increasingly use various gadgets, watch a lot of TV, play computer games. Hence, we hope that the skill of our opera soloists and ballet dancers, orchestra musicians, the magnificent opera house itself with its beauty and splendid interior will transfer the children into a new atmosphere, unveil the world of high art for them. Our task is to shape the future viewers, opera and ballet aficionados from school age,” well-known musicologist, Madeniyet Kairatkeri Marzhan Zhakenova, shared.
“It was decided to conduct the Theatrical Lesson only for the senior classes. These pupils are already young adults. Some of them have certainly been to the opera house before, but any visit to the Temple of Arts is always a festive occasion. There are children who have never been to the opera house. They would just pass by it, thinking that it was beyond their reach. In fact, the opera house is open to all children and adults,” Marzhan Zhakenova continued.
The first theatrical bell will ring for the children on January 30th. World choreographic masterpiece – Ludwig Minkus’ ballet La Bayadère – was prepared for the young viewers. According to the event program, schoolchildren will arrive at the opera house 2 hours before the performance starts. A 15-minute lecture was prepared for their attention. Experienced musicologists will talk about the content of the ballet in an engaging way using slides. They will share interesting information about the composer, choreographer, production and soloists, whom the guys will see onstage that day.
30 schoolchildren will attend the Theatrical Lesson. They will be divided into three groups of ten. Three routes have been developed around the opera house, along which three guides will lead the children to immerse them in the backstage world.
“The children will see how many people are behind the creation of an opera or ballet production. We will look into the dressing rooms, where they will see how the stage make-up is applied on the performers, what kind of wigs there are. We will take a look at the costume shop, where children can touch a ballet tutu and feel its weightlessness. They will see the differences between airy ballet costumes and impressive opera costumes, for example, from the 18th century. In the shoe shop, the guys will be able to hold a real pointe shoe. They will certainly be interested in the prop shop, where they will learn what props are and how the sets are built. During the excursion, all safety measures will be observed – the children will put on hard hats. Their route will also include a music library, rehearsal studios and much more,” Marzhan Zhakenova concluded.
It is important to note that the opera house fully complies with sanitary standards: mask regime, hand sanitizers, as well seating in the hall taking social distancing into account.
