Astana Opera: Cinderella Onstage, Not in Life

On this day, principal dancer, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Madina Unerbayeva, will perform the titular role of the main character and ballet soloist Galymzhan Nurmukhamet will portray the Prince. Ruslan Baimurzin will be conducting the performances, and the artistic director of the ballet company is People’s Artist of Russia Altynai Asylmuratova. The production is part of the Operaliya International Music Festival program. 

For Madina Unerbayeva, prima ballerina and mother of three children, this performance is special. “This day is my youngest daughter’s birthday, so it will be a double celebration. Children’s Day is personal for me. Although it is not easy to combine family life and the stage, my energy comes from there, from home. I come to the opera house and simply enjoy the work.”

Madina Unerbayeva admits that it is especially exciting to dance in front of a children’s audience. “They are the sincerest viewers. Their eyes shine, they believe in miracles. I want to give them a fairy tale, so that they leave with a sense of enchantment, immersed in the good atmosphere of theatrical magic.”

The ballerina is convinced that art should be introduced from childhood, and she sets an example herself. “We often go to theatres and the circus with our children, as this is also a live stage performance, hard work, inspiration. Children should grow up with an understanding of what art is, what culture is. This shapes personality. It is important that they learn the simple truth that art is not entertainment, but a form of expression, a way to have a dialogue with the world. And that they grow up in an atmosphere where culture is perceived as something natural and necessary.”

Still further, it is very good to start introducing children to art with ‘family’ productions, which is what Raimondo Rebeck’s ballet Cinderella is. It is staged in the neoclassical style with modern choreographic ideas. In his version, a familiar story gains an unexpected twist. The main character is a talented girl who dreams of a career as a fashion designer. Her small workshop is hidden in a storage room, but it is here that fantasies are born that can change her life. The Prince is not a classic bride chaser, but a young man with a passion for artistry who dreams of his own musical path, preferring a DJ booth to the royal throne. However, his desire for self-expression meets with misunderstanding from the royal family.

As the plot develops, the characters undergo an internal transformation, defend their right to be themselves, ultimately finding not only each other, but also the opportunity to pursue their calling. A modern take on the classical fairy tale makes it closer to the young viewers, reminding them of how important it is to believe in a dream and pursue it, no matter what.

The ballet Cinderella will be part of the Operaliya Festival, which is a significant event for the performers. “This is a great responsibility. It is especially exciting to go onstage on such a day. I want little girls in the audience to dream of becoming ballerinas, so that the inspiration that we give them will one day return to us in new artists. This is the miracle of art,” the ballerina concluded.

Performances start at 12 PM and 6 PM.

It is worth reminding, as part of the Operaliya International Festival, held in Astana, the first Kazakh comic opera Aisulu by composer Sydyq Mukhamedzhanov was performed at Astana Opera. The production aroused genuine interest among foreign guests.