“Rosebud and the Moth’s Romance” was named best children’s play

The performance “Rosebud and the Moth” was awarded the national prize UMAI in the category “Best Children’s Performance”. All the roles in this production were performed by students of the Kazakh National Academy of Choreography.

On December 23 in Astana Opera Theatre there was an award ceremony of the winners of the National Award of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of art UMAI. This award was established by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan, and in 2022 it was given to the creative teams, individual performers, artists of Kazakhstan for significant creative achievements and outstanding professional achievements in the two theatrical (concert) seasons 2020/2021 and 2021/2022. The best of the best was selected by an expert commission, which included 12 well-known cultural figures of Kazakhstan.

The play “The Rosebud and the Moth” reached the final of the award in two nominations – “The Best Ballet” and “The Best Children’s Performance,” winning in the second. The award was presented to the academy’s rector

Bibigul Nussipzhanova was presented by the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Dauren Abaev. 

“We consider this victory significant, and we were already very pleased when our performance was announced among the finalists of the award in two nominations at once along with the works of professional theaters such as Astana Opera, Astana Ballet and others. After all the Academy is first of all an educational institution and not a theatrical company, even if it is a highly professional one that provides education at the world level. This fact speaks both about the level of students’ training in the academy and the level of the performance itself,” said Gulnar Aliyeva, head of the Concert Activity Department of the Academy of Choreography.

“The Romance of the Rosebud and the Moth” is a unique performance, the last creation of the great Marius Petipa as edited by renowned choreographer Vasily Medvedev. Marius Petipa created it in the early twentieth century, but it never saw the professional stage during his lifetime. Only a century later, it had its world premiere – the Kazakh National Academy of Choreography presented this little masterpiece to the audience in the capital of Kazakhstan at the Astana Ballet stage in 2021.

According to Aliyeva, this performance is the result of the work of a large creative team – choreography, restored score, visual design – scenery and costumes, the work of teachers-rehearsers and pupils of the Academy, who performed on stage.

“The UMAI Prize is of great importance for us, we hope that after winning, even more people in Kazakhstan will know about “Rosebud and Mothman Romance”, and the assessment of the expert committee, like a seal of quality, confirms its high level”, – concluded Gulnar Aliyeva.