Aysulu Asanbekovna Tokombaeva

Tokombaeva Aysulu Asanbekovna - People's Artist of the USSR and the Kyrgyz SSR
Born on September 22, 1947, in the city of Frunze.
In early childhood, she became interested in dancing and decided to attend a ballet school.
Aysulu Tokombaeva received her ballet education at the Leningrad Choreographic School. After graduating from the Leningrad Choreographic School named after A.Ya. Vaganova (class of N.V. Belikova), she was accepted into the ballet troupe of the Kyrgyz Opera and Ballet Theater named after A. Maldybaev in Frunze in 1966, becoming a soloist in 1967.
During her creative career, Aysulu Tokombaeva's stage partner was the outstanding Kyrgyz and Soviet dancer, People's Artist of the USSR Ch.B. Bazarbaev.

With her very first role as Odette-Odile in Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake," the young ballerina attracted attention with her bright individuality, special sense of melody, and ability to express the choreographic design through musical means.
The characters created by Aysulu Tokombaeva in classical and modern ballets became a benchmark of performing art, harmoniously combining dance and acting skills. They brought worldwide fame and popularity to the Kyrgyz ballerina.
She performed more than twenty leading roles in modern and classical ballet performances.
Ballet roles performed by People's Artist of the USSR Aysulu Tokombaeva:
- Giselle in the eponymous ballet by A. Adam, 1973;
- Nikiya ("La Bayadère" by L. Minkus);
- Sylphide in the eponymous ballet by H. Levenskold;
- Freedom ("Bolero" by M. Ravel);
- Anna ("Don Juan" by C. Gluck);
- Seventh Waltz (soloist) ("Chopiniana" by F. Chopin), 1967;
- Odette-Odile ("Swan Lake" by P. Tchaikovsky), 1966;
- Aurora ("Sleeping Beauty" by P. Tchaikovsky), 1969;
- Phrygia ("Spartacus" by A. Khachaturian), 1969;
- Masha-Princess ("The Nutcracker" by P. Tchaikovsky), 1971;
- Maria ("The Fountain of Bakhchisarai" by B. Asafiev);
- Juliet ("Romeo and Juliet" by S. Prokofiev);
- Lady Macbeth ("Macbeth" by K. Molchanov), 1980;
- Scheherazade ("One Thousand and One Nights" by F. Amirov), 1989;
- Carmen ("Carmen Suite" by G. Bizet – R. Shchedrin);
- Tomiris in the eponymous ballet by U. Musaev;
- Shirin, Mehmené-Banu ("Legend of Love" by A. Melikov);
- Cholpon in the eponymous ballet by M. Raukhverger, 1967;
- Asel in the eponymous ballet by V. Vlasov, 1969;
- Tolgonai (ballet-oratorio "Mother's Field" by K. Moldobasanov), 1974.
Throughout her creative career with the ballet troupe of Soviet and Kyrgyz artistic figures, she toured cities in the USSR and abroad: Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, Libya, Tunisia, Sweden, Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Denmark, Switzerland.

Since 1995, at the invitation of the Turkish authorities, she has been engaged in pedagogical work in Turkey, where she teaches choreography at the Hacettepe University Conservatory (Ankara).
She was the chair of the jury for the "First International Competition of Choreographic Educational Institutions 'Ak-Kuu-2012'," which took place on the stage of the Kyrgyz Opera and Ballet Theater named after A. Maldybaev in June 2012 (Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic).
Awards and Honors:
- Laureate of the International Prize named after Chyngyz Aitmatov;
- Honorary title "People's Artist of the USSR" (1981);
- Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR – for performing the role of Tolgonai in the ballet "Mother's Field" by K. Moldobasanov (1976);
- Honorary title "People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR" (1975);
- Laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Kyrgyzstan (1970).