Pre-war Graduates from Kyrgyzstan of the Leningrad Choreographic School
The most significant achievements of Kyrgyz ballet during its early development are associated with the activities of the graduate of the Leningrad Choreographic School, Jumakalyy Arsygulova, who can rightly be called the first Kyrgyz ballerina. It is also worth noting Gulbara Daniyarova, who, after graduating from the school, returned to Frunze in 1941 and began working at the opera theater. She performed in all ballet and opera productions, achieving particular success in the role of Pasquale ("Laurencia"). In 1947, due to health issues, Daniyarova left the theater and has since worked at the Frunze Choreographic School.
During the Great Patriotic War, Sagynaly Senkubaev, Saparbek Baibatyrov, and Kaly Niyazaliev died at the front. The first of them, a promising dancer in classical style, was an exceptionally organized person, truly in love with the theater. Saparbek Baibatyrov was distinguished by great musicality—he knew the music of entire ballets by heart and danced excellently, especially in character dances.
Following the first group, in 1935, Rakhilya Aydaralieva, Saparbek Kabekov, and Nurdin Tugelov went to study in Leningrad.
Rakhilya Aydaralieva proved to be a talented ballerina, but she did not manage to finish the Leningrad School due to the onset of war. While working at the Frunze Theater, she continued her education at the choreographic school.
She performed in solo numbers in opera productions and in secondary roles in ballets ("Coppélia," "Laurencia," "Raymonda," "Anar," "Cholpon"). She left the stage in 1948.
Saparbek Kabekov studied in Leningrad until 1941. At the beginning of the war, he returned to Frunze and began working at the opera theater. In 1942, he was drafted into the army. After demobilization in 1947, he returned to the theater.
He performed leading roles in the ballets "Anar," "Cholpon," "Swan Lake," "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai," and others. Since 1961, he has worked as a rehearsal director. He participated in the decade of Kyrgyz art and literature in Moscow (1958).
Nurdin Sooronbaevich Tugelov established himself as a dancer and choreographer of significant ballet productions staged at the Kyrgyz Theater. After studying at the Leningrad Choreographic School (1935-1941), he worked as a soloist at the Kyrgyz Musical Theater (1941-1942) and served at the front during the war.
After demobilization in 1946, he returned to the theater, where he emerged as a performer of leading roles in several ballet productions: Franz ("Coppélia"), Frondoso ("Laurencia"), Siegfried ("Swan Lake"), Vaclav and Nuraly ("The Fountain of Bakhchisarai"), Kadyra ("Anar"), and others. As a dancer, Nurdin Tugelov possessed emotional expressiveness and technical skill (exceptional jumps, double tours, complex lifts). He staged the ballets "Anar," "Cholpon," "Doctor Aibolit," "Kuyruchuk," as well as dances in opera productions "Prince Igor," "The Sold Bride," and others. N. Tugelov is a participant in the decade of Kyrgyz art in Moscow and an honored figure in the arts (1958). From 1959 to 1964, he worked as the chief choreographer of the Kyrgyz Opera and Ballet Theater.
The group of students sent to the Leningrad School in 1936 was larger. It included: Salmorbek Akiev, Askar Baibatyrov, Bibisara Beishenalieva, Zainura Gafarova, Sharshen Kerimbaev, Kaliya Tukumbaeva, Raya Umetalieva, and Roza Khudaybergenova. Outstanding talents among the students of this group were shown by Bibisara Beishenalieva. However, many soon after graduation left the theater (Tukumbaeva, Akiev, Kerimbaev, Umetalieva); Askar Baibatyrov moved to work in the philharmonic.
The next group, which began studying in Leningrad in 1937, produced such soloists for Kyrgyz ballet as Sadyr Abdrakhmanov, Saynat Jokobaeva, Cholpon Jamanova, and ballerina and choreographer Kulbyubyu Mademilova.
Sadyr Abdrakhmanov (1926-1963), despite not having advantageous stage data (short stature), was distinguished by great diligence and worked hard on his dance technique, refining the clarity of form. He worked in the theater for two decades as a character dancer, an indispensable performer of grotesque roles and dances in mass scenes.
Kulbyubyu (Erkin) Mademilova studied at the Leningrad Choreographic School. In 1941, due to the onset of war, she returned to Frunze and began working at the musical theater. From 1943, she continued her studies at the Frunze Choreographic School (graduated in 1948). Her excellent abilities and bright stage presence elevated K. Mademilova to the ranks of soloists. She performed leading roles in the ballets "Futile Precaution," "Laurencia," "Swan Lake," "Coppélia," "Anar," "Cholpon," "Raymonda," "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai." The lightness and plasticity, the temperament of her variations, and the precision of her movements were distinctive features of the ballerina's art. Alongside her acting career, K. Mademilova taught as a pedagogue at the Frunze Choreographic School. Even then, her inclination towards choreographic work was evident. The "pas de trois" from the ballet "The Nutcracker," staged by her, was performed by the students of the school in Moscow at the All-Union Review of Choreographic Schools (1951). In 1953, K. Mademilova entered GITIS named after Lunacharsky in the choreographic faculty. Her diploma work was the development of an original dance performed by young representatives of Kyrgyzstan in 1957 at the VI World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow, which won first place. Since 1958, K. Mademilova has been the choreographer of the Republican Theater of Opera and Ballet; in a short time, she staged the ballets "Giselle" by A. Adam, "On the Path of Thunder" by A. Kara-Karaev, "The Great Waltz" by Johann Strauss, "Laurencia" by A. Krein, ballet miniatures "Spanish Caprice" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, "Francesca da Rimini" by P. I. Tchaikovsky, "Egyptian Nights" by A. Arensky, the ballet "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai" by P. I. Tchaikovsky, and others. With each production, the mature art of Kulbyubyu Mademilova—the first Kyrgyz female choreographer of a professional theater—strengthened. For her achievements in the development of theatrical art, she was awarded the honorary title of Honored Figure of Arts of the Kyrgyz SSR (1963).
Simultaneously with the education of the youth group at the Leningrad Choreographic School in the pre-war period, the preparation of ballet artists was underway in Frunze. As Kyrgyz dance evolved—from episodic performances in musical dramas to complete, elaborate ballet presentations—the pool of actors also grew. It is enough to say that while the first Kyrgyz musical performance "Altyn Kyz" involved 6 young men and women, just a year later, in 1938, there was a ballet group of 70 people at the theater. And all of them "studied the complex art of dance with great love and perseverance."
The Organization of the First Kyrgyz Theater Studio