Gulzhan Tutkibayeva: "Technical Perfection Is a Tool for Conveying an Artistic Image"

During the 15th International Ballet Competition, we spoke with Gulzhan Tutkibayeva — People’s Artist of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Professor, and Artistic Director of the Ballet Company of the Abay Kazakh National Opera and Ballet Theatre. In our conversation, she shared her first impressions of the participants, spoke about the criteria used by the jury, the role of artistry, and why a competition performance requires special concentration, inspiration, and inner maturity from a dancer.

First of all, what are your impressions of the competition and of the participants after the first round?

If we speak specifically about the first round, the impressions are quite varied. The participants arrived with very different levels of training: there are very strong, highly professional contestants, and there are others who perhaps still lack something. But the most important thing is that everyone clearly came with great reverence for this competition. It is truly a very significant and prestigious event.

I know that several participants did not come: some were afraid, some were not allowed to travel, and others had different reasons. I think they missed a very important opportunity. And those who did not come perhaps gave someone else a chance — they stepped aside and opened the way for another dancer.

A competition is unpredictable. At this stage, of course, I have no right to express any preferences. But I can say one thing: there are strong participants who are truly capable of setting a high standard for this competition and, I hope, of adorning its gala concert.

After the first round, it is still very difficult to see the overall picture. I think much will become clearer after the second round. From my own experience as a jury member, I know that the first round is always very tense and emotionally demanding. Participants are not always able to show the full extent of their abilities immediately. Often, they begin to open up in the second round, and reveal themselves fully only in the third.

It is no coincidence that the competition consists of three rounds: the first stage, the second, the third — all of this gives an artist the opportunity to unfold gradually. Sometimes the opposite happens: a contestant gives everything in the first round, but then performs less successfully in the second. Perhaps it is not their natural range, not their character, not the right theme or variation in which they can reveal themselves most fully. That also happens.

A great deal also depends on the teachers who prepare the participants. It is very important to build the contestant’s programme wisely. I believe that in the first round one should not reveal all the cards or show all one’s strongest qualities at once. Preparing for a competition, and the competition itself, is a completely separate story from performing in a theatre.

A contestant may be very interesting precisely in a competition — after all, it is a form of contest — but may not immediately find themselves in the theatre. And the opposite also happens: there are remarkable theatrical dancers who reveal themselves beautifully in a performance, but cannot show themselves as vividly in a competition.

That is why a competition is a separate professional reality. It is a great happiness when an artist shines brightly at a competition and then goes on to have a successful stage career. Or when a participant, especially in the senior group, comes to the competition already with a certain amount of experience, and the competition gives them a new impulse for further development.

How do you understand that a particular male or female dancer may be a contender for victory? What criteria do you use to evaluate the participants?

There are many criteria. Of course, first of all, there is professional training, performance mastery, and command of a particular role. But it is very important to understand: is the contestant truly inside the character? Or are they simply executing movements like a robot, without conveying anything?

An artist must feel the music, the character, the inner nature of the role. Of course, they may interpret the image in their own way, and that is also very valuable. It speaks of individuality, of their own reading of the role. But at the same time, their interpretation must be convincing — both for the audience and for the members of the jury.

What is art? Any art is made up of many components. Ballet is the same. It can be difficult to discern all of them. But having a certain amount of experience, I can say that many artists sometimes do not even suspect that they are capable of dancing a particular role and revealing certain acting qualities within themselves.

Of course, it is not easy to see that in a contestant. For this, one needs professional intuition. Our great choreographer and teacher Yuri Nikolayevich Grigorovich possessed such intuition. We all still look up to him and remember our collaboration with him, our contact with him.

In this sense, I was very fortunate: I had the opportunity, even if only briefly, to come into contact with this great master. He had an extraordinary energetic power. That sense of the energy that emanated from him remains with me to this day.

I often tell our artists how Yuri Nikolayevich worked on his productions and what he used to say. And there is one phrase of his that I repeat from time to time. He could say: “He doesn’t understand what he is doing!” Because it really is very important to understand what you are doing and what you are bringing onto the stage. That is the most important thing.

Could this thought be offered as advice to the contestants — so that they do not focus only on technique, but truly enter the role and reveal their artistry?

Of course. This can and should be advised. After all, what we do is art, ballet — first and foremost, art.

Today, everything is developing very quickly. Even sport is becoming more artistic, more emotional. And we, all the more so, are engaged in art. For us, that is the foundation.

Technical perfection is a tool for conveying one artistic image or another. It is precisely a tool, not an end in itself. The main thing is that behind the technique there should be meaning, character, feeling, and image.

What would you wish the contestants in the second and third rounds?

First of all, Olympic calm. You see, sport still does not leave us. I would also wish them inspiration. It is very important that the participants show the inspiration they feel from what they are doing on stage.

I would like to wish them the ability to reveal their individuality and their personal qualities. Of course, behind every contestant there is a school, teachers, and a great deal of work. And it is very important that everything they have been told, everything they have been taught, they are able to bring onto the stage and show.

And most importantly — what is ballet? It is beauty. Beauty and inspiration. I sincerely wish the contestants to show us precisely this beauty and this inspiration.

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Journalist Yanina Nichkebiya

Photo by Stanislav Ivanov, press department of the competition