Archive: April 6th, 2010
Bubusara was a famous ballerina who in her later years trained several generations of dancers and was one of the founders of the Kyrgyz ballet school. Born into a peasant family in the village of Tash-Tube (not far from Bishkek) on 17 May, 1926, Bubusara Beishenalieva went to study in the Leningrad School of Choreography [...]
It is said that professional theatre began in Kyrgyzstan with the creation, in 1926, of a musical-drama studio in Frunze, (as Bishkek was then known). The first, locally produced, musical-drama (“Altyn Kyz” – “Golden Girl”) was staged in 1926 quickly followed by a number of others authored by local artistes, based on traditional folklore, such as “Adzhal Orduna” – “Not [...]
I remember on my first visit to Bishkek, back in 1994, wandering through the city center and being brought up short, surprised to hear a soprano practicing her scales as we passed some classical edifice. Tony turned to me and asked why I was surprised … “You are not in a cultural wilderness you know.”
