N.S. Kholfin is one of the first enthusiasts of creating Kyrgyz professional ballet
One of the first enthusiasts of creating Kyrgyz professional ballet was the talented master of choreographic art Nikolai Sergeyevich Kholfin. He arrived in Kyrgyzstan as a young man in 1938.
However, he already had experience working in one of the best theaters in the country — the musical theater named after K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. N. S. Kholfin brought to the Kyrgyz theater, precisely at the time of its formation, the principles of advanced realistic art, without which the further fruitful process of developing the national theater would have been impossible.
N. S. Kholfin began working on the creation of national dance on the professional stage by turning to folklore and national forms of amateur art. From these, material was drawn for staging the first dances on the professional stage. Kholfin himself wrote that the sources for them were "folk games, Kyrgyz ornamentation, the peculiarities of Kyrgyz life, individual movements of labor processes, the uniqueness of national costumes, the rich musical culture, and finally, the spirited spirit of the Kyrgyz people." This is why from the very beginning, the content and movements of the first dances seemed familiar and close to the performers, as they reminded them of folk games, their mobility, the vigorous rush of a dzhigit racing on a spirited horse, the smooth movements of women crafting colorful felt, and the light step of a girl.
As a result of the extensive work carried out under the guidance of N. S. Kholfin, a choreographic color was found that expressed the national form. This was already evident in the dances of the first musical drama "Altyn Kyz" and the first opera "Ay-Churek." It was here that the practical principles were embodied, from which it was necessary to begin the work of creating a national ballet. The first dances staged by N. S. Kholfin were characterized by originality. In this regard, the story of the Kyrgyz dance "Kiyiz" is noteworthy. The very word means "felt." This is the name of the national carpet that Kyrgyz artisans have been making since ancient times, mastering the secrets of this artistic craft from childhood. No family was without such a carpet.
The labor processes of making kiyiz formed the basis of the dance of the same name. Thus, the source of the dance became an element of everyday life, a direct act of labor activity. Usually, kiyiz was made by women; the most labor-intensive part of the work was softening the wool. This was done by men, who trampled the wool with their feet. However, in the dance "Kiyiz," men did not participate. Girls would run onto the stage and, gracefully picking up imaginary wool from the ground, would scatter it. Then they would start processing the wool: beating it with sticks to prevent clumps, pouring water on it. When the imaginary felt was ready, they would stretch it by the edges, lay it out, and the girls would sit on the felt, rejoicing in the result of their labor.
N. S. Kholfin had no doubt that the Kyrgyz had dances in the past. As early as 1939, he wrote: "The harsh living conditions of the Kyrgyz people for many centuries, the barbaric attitude of colonizers and local feudal lords towards national culture and folk creativity contributed to the oblivion of the wonderful, joyful art of dance." This is why the only correct path was to turn to ethnographic heritage, customs, and the daily life of the people. And credit must be given to N. S. Kholfin — he did everything he could in this direction. The roots of contemporary ballet art were found in the artistic experience of the Kyrgyz people.
Three generations of dancers of the Kyrgyz ballet theater