© Kulturstiftung Sibirien
Shows on the web | April 2012
Dances and Songs from Kamchatka
The Foundation for Siberian Cultures supports a variety of projects, including those featuring the activities of youth dance ensembles in Kamchatka. The groups are brought to perform in Western Europe on tours that are often prepared in advance through special workshops in Kamchatka,
This approach encourages strongly motivated choreographers in Kamchatka by boosting the young dancers' self esteem and providing them incentives to interpret and express their cultural heritage in artistic and creative ways. These performance tours in foreign lands also produce some enlightening cultural exchanges, which give us vivid insights into the little-known worldviews of these peoples from the Russian Far East.
The Foundation for Siberian Cultures builds on the experiences derived from earlier projects of a similar nature administered by the Foundation's director, Erich Kasten. A few are listed below. They have continued to focus on quite diverse themes and geographies. For example, the Foundation is now preparing a tour for artists from Kamchatka that will include cultural exchanges with Sami reindeer herders in northern Scandinavia and Finland.
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In 2009, a European tour included the
Even youth ensemble "Or'yakan",
together
with
the
dance
artists
Ekaterina
Gil', Aleksandra Urkachan, Maia Lomovtseva and Antonina Koerkova
from Kamchatka. In addition to concerts at festivals and museums,
priority was given to cultural exchanges with students at schools in
Switzerland. » more » QT Film |
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The youth
ensemble "Shkolnye gody" from
Palana included in their program in 2004 a special emphasis on the
artistic
dialogue among various indigenous, Russian and modern
western cultural traditions in Kamchatka. This reflected the dynamic
ways that people from differing backgrounds interact in light of their
heterogeneous cultural heritage and in dealing with new ideas and
challenges from the outside.
» more » QT Film |
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The advance preparation for the tour of the Even ensemble "Nulgur" in 1999, together with the
dance
artists E. Gil', A. Urkachan and
E. Zueva, focused on elaborating the mis-en-scène of the
theatrical dance play "The travel of the shaman to the worlds beyond."
The young performers were especially encouraged to
consult with elder family members in depth about this important feature
of their traditional culture. » QT
Film »
more |
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During the visit of the Itel'men
ensemble "El'vel'" in 1996
most
notable performances and cultural encounters took place at the Free
University of Berlin and during an exhibition about Georg Wilhelm
Steller at the Franckeschen Stiftungen in Halle. This encouraged the
Itel'men to preserve and to further enhance a cultural legacy first
documented about 250 years ago by that young German scientist. » more » QT Film |
