Gaskarov Folk Dance Company celebrates its 70th anniversary

The State Academic Folk Dance Company named after Faizi Gaskarov celebrates its 70th anniversary. The gala night commemorating this momentous event took place in the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre yesterday.

The dancers of the company received congratulations from the RB Ministry for Culture and National Policy, theatres and philharmonic societies of the republic, and from their colleagues from Miras Ufa Folk Dance Company, the State Folk Dance and Song Company of the Republic of Tatarstan and other guests of honour.

The dancers presented a jubilee program "Dances of peoples of the world", reflecting the culture of multinational Bashkortostan. The program included both popular Bashkir choreographic compositions such as "The blooming flute", "Zarifa", "Seven girls", "The youth of Bashkortostan" and also Tatar, Kalmyc, Koryak, Byelorussian, Ukrainian, Greek and Korean dances.

The State Academic Folk Dance Company was founded on March 11 in 1939 on the initiative of Faizi Gaskarov, the talented choreographer and Igor Moiseev's disciple. Being the art director of the company for thirty years, he managed to reveal the essence of the Bashkir folk dance and made it close and clear for people of different nationalities.

Today the famous company is our republic's trademark and the gem of its choreographic art. There are more than 170 best pieces of the dancing art representing the culture of Bashkortostan, Russia and the whole world in its collection. Its team consists of about 60 dancers and 14 orchestra men.

The name of Faizi Gaskarov was given to the company in 1989. In December of 1996, the RF Ministry of Culture gave it the title of "academic" and in 2007 the company became the owner of its own building which had no analogues in Ural-Volga region.

During the anniversary year, the Company made a tour across the regions of Bashkortostan, Perm Territory and cities of Russia. It also visited Turkey within the framework of the Days of Bashkir Culture.