The magic power of art

Gulnara Alekseeva, choreographer of the ballet "Glamororus"

RUSSIAN SCHOOL OF ART, BE THE LITERATURE OF Hurray, MUSIC, DANCE, PAINTING, KNOWN WORLDWIDE. THE REPRESENTATIVES PLAYING IN THIS ITS ITS representatives living abroad, including and in the UAE.

Traditionally, the activity of the Russian community has always been manifested in Dubai, but over the last decade, Russian-speaking specialists living in Abu Dhabi and teaching their disciplines to an international audience have gained serious positions. One of the high-profile events of the spring was a wonderful concert, which gathered a huge audience at the Club of Officers of Abu Dhabi: the ballet "Glamorus" performed by the choreographer Gulnara Alekseeva performed the annual show.

For more than two hours, a vivid performance, during which the audience kept exploding with applause, kept the attention of the international audience. The audience escorted each number with delight, and the children often danced right in the hall. Each output of the young artists was a surprise for the audience: the dances were uniquely diverse, and the costumes were surprisingly colorful. The accuracy of the movements of older girls was amazing, and the little ones were touched by their enthusiasm. The show included variations on the theme of traditional dances of the peoples of the world - Russian, Indian, gypsy, several Arabic; popular dances of the 20th century - street dance, swing, rock and roll, entertaining comic and avant-garde compositions, dances with elements of acrobatics.

Young participants mastered a huge variety of dance styles. The concert ended with fireworks and the famous song of Michael Jackson, uniting all the artists. The smallest participants for a long time did not want to leave the stage, strewn with shiny confetti.

The choreographer Gulnara Alekseeva, who appeared on the stage for just a minute - to thank the sponsors and take pictures with the children, the audience greeted with a new round of applause and questions about how to get to classes in a dance studio.

It is worth saying that the children and youth team "Glamoros" was created in 2007, and since then annually pleases the audience with its magnificent performances.

Ballet unites young women from 4 to 18 years of age, of various nationalities, among whom there are many Russians. The concerts are sponsored by the ruling Abu Dhabi family, under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikh Fatima Bint Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

We met with Gulnara Alekseeva, whose day is scheduled literally in minutes and offer you her interview.

Gulnara, every year you show a "Hollywood show" in Abu Dhabi, while taking into account the specifics of the country, new children are dancing in your next annual concert. How do you manage to constantly maintain this level of performance?

Children of various nationalities are engaged in our dance classes: local, Arabic, Russian, British, Indian - all of them, through the art of dance, learn self-discipline, develop spiritually and physically, get acquainted with the culture of different nations. And I am very proud that this evening the Russian dance school, certainly enriched by the multicultural environment in which we live, again demonstrated its achievements in all its glory.

We start classes in September, and we are preparing a concert in May. Of course, it is not easy to maintain a high level of the program, as the lineup is constantly changing, new children come. Some grow up and cease to engage, others leave, but still we have a certain permanent group that makes up the core of each issue. All the girls train for a year, work on their physical fitness, dance exercises and at the same time prepare for a concert, a few months before which we begin to conduct additional rehearsals.

My process is constant, I’m already starting to choose music, think over the pattern of dances and design costumes for the next year. And even for beginners there is a place on the stage, you just need to distribute the roles well.

Do you only do one concert a year?

So big - yes, as far as possible. After all, a concert is a huge cost: renting a stage, equipment, for this we need sponsors. So far, we have the opportunity to hold annual reporting concerts, thanks to my high-ranking fitness clients.

They allocate funds for this, and I reserve the first row for them, as their children and grandchildren always come to our concerts. Sometimes we have small performances at family events of "sponsors". The annual big concert is held under the patronage of Sheikh Fatima, daughter of the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. She is only 10 years old, she is the same age as my daughter and always happens at our concerts.

Please tell me, are the little princesses dancing in their palaces?

What do you, dads do not even allow them to think about it. After all, dancing does not belong to the priorities of Islamic culture, especially modern ones. They are now more interested in painting, drawing, taking music lessons.

You teach fitness to members of the ruling family, can you tell us more about this?

What to tell? They all take care of themselves, work with professional trainers 3-4 times a week, all in the palaces have their own gyms. They follow fashion. Rulers are progressive people, and therefore I also have to constantly improve and learn new types of fitness.

Therefore, your resume lists all the courses existing in the world, not only Pilates, kickboxing or combat, but also specific ones with a medical bias ... How do you do everything?

It’s not easy, I solve many issues on the go, right in the car, after dancing rehearsals in the studio I often stay up late. Thank you, my husband supports me, and the children have grown up. My daughter is dancing in our team, and I, in fact, only see her at rehearsals. And all these courses are simply necessary, if you want to work successfully, you need to be versatile prepared.

Gulnara, how did you get to the Emirates and what did you do before that?

I didn’t even want to remember somehow, it was so difficult: my husband and little son and I came from Russia to the UAE in 1998, to Sharjah. I am a professional choreographer, I have been dancing all my life. From the age of six she performed in a well-known ensemble in Moscow. When we arrived in the UAE, it was impossible to even think about dancing here, and I began to teach fitness in gyms. At the same time she studied, received ACE certificate (American Council of Exercise - American Council on Physical Education). To pass the exam, it was necessary to study a bunch of special literature. There are huge textbooks - 400 pages for each subject, including physiology, and only at the end, actually, a little about exercises. All this in English, of course. At the same time, I learned language and terminology, wrote out every word, translated, worked days and nights. All this took several years. Then I was invited to work in the Abu Dhabi Women's Club, they needed a fitness instructor.

I went back and forth from Sharjah every day for two months. You know how here - first they look closely, check.

After moving to Abu Dhabi, I began to conduct fitness classes, where the director of the Women's Club began to go. From there, in fact, they started sending me to various courses. I visited both England and Hong Kong, and passed the qualification exams.

Gradually, high-level clients gathered at my classes, with whom I continue to work to this day, although the club no longer exists. It was there, in 2007, that our children's dance group was organized, and there we began to hold the first reporting concerts. Now we continue to work in a small private studio and hope that someday, we will again have a large hall for rehearsals. We have reached a good professional level, but, unfortunately, given the rent and other expenses, the studios are very difficult to develop. Now we are actively engaged in the search for sponsors or even patrons for our team and are ready to consider relevant proposals. This year is going well: our team celebrated its 5th anniversary, the reporting concert was a huge success, my pupils won prizes at the Rising Stars talent contest in Abu Dhabi. And this means that we are ready to conquer new heights!

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