Ufa native organizes first international choreographic festival-contest in Geneva

Thanks to the initiative of the choreographer and teacher Guzel Usmanova-Gobe, who was born in Ufa and has been living in Switzerland for more than 18 years, the first international choreographic festival-contest “Helvetic Navruz” for children and adults will be held in Geneva on March 28-29, in which dance groups from Russia and Bashkortostan can also take part. The event is dedicated to the World Folkloriada, which will be held this year in Bashkiria.

Guzel Usmanova-Gobe is a talented ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She created several dance studios, one of which is called “Dance like Nureyev” in honor of our great countryman Rudolf Nureyev. Among the pupils of the studio are winners of international dance competitions and champions of Switzerland, in particular, in rhythmic gymnastics.

Her projects are the SWISS-URAL Association, a cultural bridge between Switzerland and the Urals, and she has organized annual Sabantuy Festivals in Geneva for about ten years. Guzel visited the last World Kurultay of the Bashkirs in Ufa as a participant and also helped more than two dozen active delegates propagandizing native culture from different countries to visit it. She was instructed by the World Kurultay of the Bashkirs to form the Kurultay of the Bashkirs of Europe.

Guzel is a member of the coordinating council of compatriots in Switzerland and admits that having lived in Switzerland for more than 18 years, she feels like a Russian citizen. “I cannot understand why Bashkortostan is not intensively promoting its achievements in the world. It can and should tell a lot about itself to the world, ”she says. Please, read here a detailed interview with Guzel Usmanova-Gobe.