Tuva.Asia / The New Research of Tuva

V. Kok-ool Tuvan State theatre of music and drama will present director Alexei Oorzhak's drama Kultegin based on Eduard Mizhit's epic drama at the 10^th theatre festival of Turkic peole "Nauruz".

The play tells of the life of the ancient Turkic society, torn by  internal conflicts, which were skillfully fomented by the rulers of a mighty neighbor of the Turks - China. The story tells of  efforts of Kultegin and his brother Bilge-Kagan, directed towards the preservation, recovery and strengthening of their nation.

After the premiere, Tuvan press called the play a "true masterpiece", even though the expectations were different.  Specifically, there were doubts associated with the discrepancy between the modest means of  the Tuvan music and drama theatre and the grandiose format of the epic: the budget for "Kultegin" was only 700thousand rubles, according to official data.

Today at a round-table conference at the National museum a whole campaign for promotion of female throat singing started off. We will be speaking about traditions of its performance in the republic and the current existence of female khoomei. The initiative of the debates,  the concert in Kyzyl, and the tour of the districts of the republic belongs to the legendary Tuvan-Austrian singer Sainkho Namchylak and to the only khoomei performing all-female group in the world, "Tyva Kyzy" (Daughters of Tuva).

"We have Shagonar, Ak-Dovurak, Erzin, and Chadan on our tour schedule. We would also like to perform in Samagaltai," says Sainkho, who arrived to Kyzyl last night.