Kalmykia is an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation. It has a population of around 290,000 and is the only region in Europe where Buddhism is the most practised religion. It is located in the southwestern part of European Russia, just north of the North Caucasus. Its neighbours include Volgograd and Astrakhan Oblasts, Dagestan, Stavropol and Rostov Oblast, and in the south east it is washed by the waters of the Caspian Sea. Kalmyks, who constitute a western Oirat branch of the Mongols, originally lived in the western Chinese territory and partially Mongolia. In the 17th century they migrated west, reaching the Caspian Sea and the steppes between the Don and Ural Rivers, where they established the Kalmyk Khanate.
The children’s dance ensemble TENGRIN KI (“heavenly souls”) was founded by the decree of the President of the Republic of Kalmykia in 1997. It is affiliated with the Kalmyk State Dance Theatre “Oiraty” in Elista, the republic’s capital city, the population of which is around 103,000. At the Theatre children receive a comprehensive, cultural, physical and spiritual education based on nationally-approved curricula. They actively participate in festivals and competitions.
At the Festival TENGRIN KI will present a medley of Kalmyk national dances and melodies, such as sharka-barka (a singing dance for boys and girls), ishkimdyk, riders, chicherdyk (with special shaking movements), derbetovskii tavshun, five fingers (a girls’ dance), chickens (a jocular dance), khadaki (a jocular dance performed by girls in white costume), and dombrin (a folk melody performed by orchestra).
Gilyana Shungurtsykova is the ensemble leader, Petr Timofeevich Nadbitov is the choreographer, and Dokhaeva Liubov Tyurbeevna is the leader of the musical band, which will be playing echin (a zither-like instrument), tovshur (a kind of long-necked lute), dombra (a two-stringed plucked chordophone), a tambourine, huchir (a four-stringed instrument of Mongolian origin), a Saratov accordion.
The children’s dance ensemble TENGRIN KI (“heavenly souls”) was founded by the decree of the President of the Republic of Kalmykia in 1997. It is affiliated with the Kalmyk State Dance Theatre “Oiraty” in Elista, the republic’s capital city, the population of which is around 103,000. At the Theatre children receive a comprehensive, cultural, physical and spiritual education based on nationally-approved curricula. They actively participate in festivals and competitions.
At the Festival TENGRIN KI will present a medley of Kalmyk national dances and melodies, such as sharka-barka (a singing dance for boys and girls), ishkimdyk, riders, chicherdyk (with special shaking movements), derbetovskii tavshun, five fingers (a girls’ dance), chickens (a jocular dance), khadaki (a jocular dance performed by girls in white costume), and dombrin (a folk melody performed by orchestra).
Gilyana Shungurtsykova is the ensemble leader, Petr Timofeevich Nadbitov is the choreographer, and Dokhaeva Liubov Tyurbeevna is the leader of the musical band, which will be playing echin (a zither-like instrument), tovshur (a kind of long-necked lute), dombra (a two-stringed plucked chordophone), a tambourine, huchir (a four-stringed instrument of Mongolian origin), a Saratov accordion.