Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – Premiere of the ballet performance “Lazgi. Dance of Soul and Love” performed by artists of the National Ballet of Uzbekistan took place on the historical stage of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater (SABT) in Moscow. This was reported by the press service of the CIS Executive Committee.

This was already the second performance of the play in Russia. In June, “Lazgi” was presented on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

The first spectators began to arrive at the Bolshoi Theater about an hour before the start of the event; among the art connoisseurs there were many young people. While waiting for the performance, they could walk through the historical interiors of the theater or watch exhibitions dedicated to the activities of artists whose careers were connected with the Bolshoi Theater.

“This is something new for the Bolshoi Theater: new colors, non-standard staging, costumes unusual for the Bolshoi Theater. I would like to join the Uzbek culture, understand and see it. They know our culture, we want to know them,” one of the spectators shared in an interview with a TASS correspondent.

Among the spectators one could see Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev, Russian Ministers of Culture and Finance Olga Lyubimova and Anton Siluanov, as well as Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy.

 “Lazgi” combines the art of the ancient dance of the same name and modern choreography. “This performance is so full of everything new, from choreography, unusual plot, music, scenery. This plot is born for the viewer on its own,” the performer of the role of Soul, Honored Artist of Uzbekistan, leading soloist of the State Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater told reporters before the performance. Alisher Navoi Nadir Khamraeva. According to her, this performance is an “extraordinary gift” for the artists and technical staff.

“Of course, there were difficulties [during the preparation of the performance], since we are classical ballet dancers, and in our time modern dance was not taught at the school. It was a little difficult for us to tune in and approach this,” admitted the performer of the role of Shaman, leading soloist of the Bolshoi Theater. Navoi Radion Isyanov. He also noted that the composer of “Lazgi”, a former ballet dancer Davidson Giaconello, composed the music by directly observing the movements of the dancers on stage.

The project manager, chairman of the Art and Culture Development Foundation of Uzbekistan, Gayane Umerova, told reporters that the preparation of the performance was preceded by a long search for the professionals necessary to implement it. “For a year, we selected specialists who could help us work with a dance that is more than 3 thousand years old. And we literally gathered all over the country, in particular in Khorezm, where this dance originated, specialists in the field of dance, as well as Zoroastrianism, since this dance came out of it,” she emphasized.

Umerova added that the choice of foreigners (in particular, the choreographer and composer) to develop the ballet performance itself was due to the desire to assemble a team that could “look at Uzbekistan from a different point of view.”

The play “Lazgi” tells the story of the journey from the past to the future of the soul that personifies the tradition of the people of Uzbekistan, as well as the love that follows it through all eras.

Every new dance shown on stage was greeted by the audience with applause. “I am very impressed. An amazing troupe of the National Ballet of Uzbekistan, a completely unique set design, light work, music, this dance of soul and love is so bright, so deep and at the same time permeated with national flavor,” Matvienko said to the reporters after the premiere.

She also said that she discussed with the author of the idea for the play, Saida Mirziyoyeva, who attended the premiere at the Bolshoi Theater, the possibility of new showings of “Lazgi” in Russia. At the same time, Umerova noted that in the future this project should be shown in France and Germany.