1. Altynai Abduakhimkyzy Asylmuratova is a Kazakh-born former ballerina who is artistic director of the ballet company at Astana Opera.
17 Facts About Altynai Asylmuratova
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Altynai Asylmuratova is a former prima ballerina with the Kirov Ballet and a guest artist all over the world.
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Altynai Asylmuratova was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan into a theatrical family: the lives of her parents and grandparents were associated with ballet.
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Altynai Asylmuratova's parents were graduates of the Leningrad Choreographic School.
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Altynai Asylmuratova's grandfather was the chief choreographer of the Kazakh National Conservatory, and her paternal great-grandfather was a deputy of the Russian State Duma of the first convocation.
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Altynai Asylmuratova spent her childhood behind the scenes of the theater.
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Altynai Asylmuratova loved to dance, but her mother, knowing the difficulties of the profession, did not want to send her child to a ballet school.
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Altynai Asylmuratova was sent to Leningrad for the entrance exams to the Leningrad Choreographic School only thanks to the persistence of her grandmother and grandfather.
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Altynai Asylmuratova graduated in 1978 in the class of Inna Zubkovskaya, after which she was accepted into the corps de ballet of the Kirov State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
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From 1980 to 1999, Altynai Asylmuratova was a soloist of this theater, and was a prima ballerina from 1987 to 1999.
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Altynai Asylmuratova was a soloist of the Royal Ballet from 1989 to 1993.
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Altynai Asylmuratova became more popular in Western theaters than in those of her home country due to her frequent guest appearances abroad, including Roland Petit's company.
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Altynai Asylmuratova was much admired both for her looks and the beauty of her dancing.
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Altynai Asylmuratova's repertoire included all the classical ballet roles in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote, and La Bayadere, Mikhail Fokine pieces such as The Firebird and Les Sylphides, as well as modern classics like Romeo and Juliet, works by choreographer George Balanchine and Roland Petit.
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In 2013, Altynai Asylmuratova was forced to resign from her position at Vaganova after the new rector, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, was appointed by the Ministry of Culture.
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Altynai Asylmuratova was immediately invited to work at the Mikhailovsky Theater, where from 13 December 2013 to March 2014, she was an adviser to the General Director for ballet.
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In 2015, Altynai Asylmuratova became artistic director of ballet at Astana Opera, Kazakhstan.