The Role of Cholpon in M. Raukhverger's Ballet
The role of Cholpon in the eponymous ballet by M. Raukhverger was inherited by Dzhamanova from Beyshenalieva. This role corresponded more closely to the peculiarities of her character. It was here that Dzhamanova's talent was widely revealed.
The author of the libretto, O. Sarbagishev, named the heroine of the ballet after his niece — Cholpon Dzhamanova. Years passed. And the one whose name the ballet bore performed the role of Cholpon herself. This happened in 1953. In fact, she had been eyeing the role of Cholpon for a long time and even prepared it on her own. Therefore, when she was offered to dance Cholpon, Dzhamanova quickly immersed herself in the role and soon performed in the production.
The role of Cholpon was close to the actress. Here is what she wrote herself: “While working on this role, I involuntarily compared my fate with that of my heroine. Her parents, like mine (before the revolution), were powerless poor people. If it weren't for the Great October... I would have to experience the cruel fate of poor Cholpon in life, rather than play her role on stage. This thought helped me to deeply and vividly reveal the image of the heroine, to reproduce her emotional experiences in the ballet.”
The words of Ch. Dzhamanova demonstrate a correct understanding of the ideological significance of the image she embodied on stage. Although the ballet had been performed for many years, Dzhamanova managed to infuse the role of Cholpon with her own softness and lyricism. Small and agile, she was not overly temperamental, seeming excessively tender. But in difficult moments, Cholpon-Dzhamanova displayed determination and will, which helped her defend her love.
Ch. Dzhamanova performed in the second version of the ballet. Her beloved — Nurdin was a simple poor man. As the action unfolds, when the khan's son breaks Nurdin's hunting bow, Cholpon-Dzhamanova expresses despair in a swift dance. But then Nurdin repairs the broken bow, strings it, and Cholpon's mood changes, her emotional dance expressing joy as fervently as it had previously depicted sorrow. In this, she managed to convey joy significantly deeper, more passionately, and more naturally than despair. As a reviewer noted, “the audience is always convinced of Cholpon's joy.”
Perhaps, in this ability of Dzhamanova to convey a happy mood convincingly and powerfully, the optimism of the Cholpon image is strongly reflected. Looking at her, it was impossible to assume her defeat. The warmth she radiated seemed stronger than any magic and treachery of Aydai.
For more than ten years, Dzhamanova performed in her beloved role. The author of these lines attended one of the actress's last performances as Cholpon in the spring of 1965. She danced with such ease and ecstasy, as she had many years ago when she first took the stage in this role.
In 1954, for her successes in the development of national choreography, Cholpon Dzhamanova was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Republic. But her next role was not in ballet, but in... film. In 1955, the Kyrgyz feature film "Saltanat" (produced by Mosfilm) was released, in which Ch. Dzhamanova played the role of the village postwoman Shairbyubyu. The actress shone here with a new facet of her talent, demonstrating extraordinary dramatic abilities. Light as the wind, she galloped on horseback, with a large bag of letters and newspapers. For everyone, she had something — if not a letter, then such a kind smile that warmed people's hearts. Through her entire demeanor, Shairbyubyu-Dzhamanova showed that she was a small but very necessary person for the people.
Then Ch. Dzhamanova began working on the role of Esmeralda in the eponymous ballet by Puni, Glière, and Vasilenko.
In the Kyrgyz theater, this role had already been performed by B. Beyshenalieva and A. Khandranova. Ch. Dzhamanova had to enter into creative competition with them, in which she proved worthy of her predecessors.
The deeply dramatic situation in which the heroine of the ballet was placed was conveyed by Dzhamanova in her dance. Her Esmeralda was remembered by the audience for her strength of freedom and the height of the human spirit.
It seemed that the role of Esmeralda was a contrast to what the actress had danced until then, to her entire soft, lyrical appearance. But Esmeralda in Dzhamanova's work was by no means a coincidence. The actress proved the breadth of her acting range. Unfortunately, Ch. Dzhamanova did not often appear on stage in this role. Only after 1963 did she become the sole performer of Esmeralda in the Kyrgyz Opera and Ballet Theater.
In 1961, the theater staged "The Grand Waltz." The entire atmosphere of the action with its spirituality was close to Dzhamanova — the performer of the part of Henrietta. Ch. Dzhamanova revealed the lyrical side of the role.
At times, her softness took on the character of Henrietta's natural weakness, which, by design, was meant to contrast with her temperamental, strong, and willful rival Fanny.
Unfortunately, the list of roles played by Ch. Dzhamanova is not large. But she managed to leave a significant mark in the Kyrgyz ballet theater.
In the spring of 1965, due to health reasons, Cholpon Dzhamanova had to leave the theater. But the actress found a new path for herself. She began working as a teacher at the Frunze Choreographic School, from which she herself had once graduated.
Ballerina Cholpon Dzhamanova