New Year's Yolkas

It is the time of the year again when everybody is getting ready to celebrate New Year. The kids are finishing their second quarter at school. Because they still go to school on Christmas (their winter break starts on the 30^th of December), we do the presents on New Year just as the rest of the people in this part of the world but have a little family program on Christmas.

It is also the time when all the kids go to different Yolka (New Year performance for kids called “New Year's Tree”) that are organized for elementary age kids all over town. This year our school went to the Children's Palace just as they did last year, and our three youngest got to go. Nika is in middle school now, so they go to New Years Dance instead. They were especially excited because all of the kids get to dress in costumes. Sophie was a gypsy girl again, and Lina and Lexa were Snegurochkas (granddaughter of Grandfather Frost).

Lina, Sophie and Lexa in their costumes ready to rock!

The kids formed a circle in the middle of which the show was taking place. It usually goes along the lines when some villain trying to stop Grandfather Frost and Snegurochka from delivering presents to all of the children, and some here comes and saves the day.

The main story line of this performance was Alice in Wonderland

The Queen with her evil forces.

Sophie and Lexa with their classmates

Grandfather Frost and Snegurochka finally made it to the kids.

Pretty cool beard!

They also had some kids' dance groups do numbers and those were a lot of fun to watch. 

Little Monkeys Dance

Something must have been really funny!

I stayed with the twins' class, so I do not have too many pictures of Lina but here is one of Lina dancing.

And back to the twins.

Lots of happy kids!

They also went to see a little play in the theater. Here is Lexa waving with her ticket to me.

New Year's Tree at the Children's Palace.

At the end of all of it a lot of time kids would get presents. Parents get together and buy presents for the whole class and then deliver them to the kids during such Yolkas.

Presents that we put together for our second grade class.

Sophie and Lexa with some of their friends and teacher after the performance.

The girl's had a lot of fun and hopefully made a lot of good memories.

Nauryz

Tonight we are flying to Thailand for our spring break but before we get on the plane and fly to a tropical paradise we decided to take our girls downtown to see what festivities they had going on in honor of Nauryz.

Yurts by Khan Shatyr (the huge tent right behind us)

Nauryz is a Kazakh New Year – a symbol of the spring renewal, love, abundance and friendship. Traditionally, people used to wear holiday outfits and fill all vessels in the house with water, milk or grain to increase the odds of a good harvest and prosperity. Home cleaning and the planting of trees and flowers several days before the holiday is also an important ritual. It is believed that if Nauryz is celebrated in a clean house, it will protect the hosts from misfortunes and illnesses during the year.The word “Nauryz” has Persian origins and literally translates as “a new day.

 

Kazakhs in their national costumes

The celebration usually includes fairs, traditional sports like Kazakh wrestling, horse racing, dancing and singing. Nauryz is celebrated during 21-23 of March but this year most of the festivities will take place on the 22^nd of March, so we’ll miss them all.

 

Rope swings - traditional fun activity during Nauryz

Today though they had a little concert going on by Khan Shatyr, and it was fun. We watched two performances before we went on to checking some other things. Maybe next year we can fully experience the holiday!

One of the bands performing a popular song.

And of course our kids couldn't pass this great opportunity!

Lina and Veronika

Lexa and Sophie

Lexa and Sophie. We hope to see this traditional game live sometime. It is when a young man first trying to kiss a girl on a galloping horse, and if he is not successful, she will chase him and whip him!

Astana Opera and Ballet Theater

Astana Opera and Ballet Theater in September

One of the blessings of living in a capital is that all sorts of cultural events are at the tips of our fingers. The city has a number of museums, galleries, theaters, and concert halls. On December 27 we took our family to the infamous Astana Opera and Ballet Theater to see the Nutcracker. This new Theater was built in 2013 and is grand and beautiful! The building itself is 64,000 square meters. Of these, about 3,000 square meters is the stage area. If I am not mistaken there are 4 levels in the theater (6 levels inside the stage area), and right above the main opera and ballet stage is a separate chamber music hall. We went there at the beginning of January to see Peter and the Wolf.

When we lived in Iowa I took the two older girls to see Nutcracker. That was a performance done by the local ballet school. They did a wonderful job, and we had a great time. But ever since that outing I wanted to take my girls to a professional ballet. Living here in Astana gave us that wonderful opportunity at a very affordable price (the best seats were going for about $40, the cheapest were about $3)

In front of Astana Opera and Ballet Theater - going to see the Nutcracker.

When we first walked into Astana Opera House, our first impression was that we’re standing in the middle of grand palace. Some of the ladies were wearing formal evening gowns and some men were in tuxedos, though they were the minority. Everybody else was dressed very nicely but more casually. Our girls decided to wear their fancy dresses and they looked like they totally belonged there!

The girls changing their shoes.

Since it was Christmas/New Year’s season, in the middle of the hall stood a big and beautiful Christmas Tree! Around New Year they hold Novogodniye Utrenniki (New Year Celebrations for children) in there just as in all of the other theaters, concert halls and entertainments centers around the city. 

The big Christmas Tree in the entrance hall

Our family in the entrance hall. I guess Lexa wasn't ready for the picture!

 

Now we are ready for the picture!

When I bought our tickets I decided to get one of the bell-etage private sections. They had a section with 7 seats in it. There were six of us plus my mom who was visiting us from Krasnoyarsk, just perfect! We had a good view, and the kids loved being up high (we were only on the second level but to them it felt up high).

Here is our little private corner.

The view of the stage and the orchestra pit from our seats.

Isn't it beautiful!? There were no empty seats by the time the ballet started.

The twins watching the people from their little "nest"

A scene from the Nutcracker

Another scene from the Nutcracker

The ballet performance was outstanding! The decorations were beautiful! And the music was magical! Spencer was fascinated by the orchestra down in the orchestra pit and was probably watching them more than the performance itself. But the rest of us had our eyes glued to the stage. During the 20 min intermission I took the girls to the main hall, and they spent the whole time twirling and jumping like ballerinas there.

 

Showing off their ballet moves!

All in all we had a wonderful time!

These two dancers were amazing!

A couple of weeks later my mom and I took the girls to see Peter and the Wolf which was a wonderful experience as well. Peter and the Wolf was written by Prokofiev to teach kids about symphony and the instruments that play in symphony. This time we went to the chamber music hall on the top level of the theater. We also discovered a little museum of costumes that were used in different performances.

Second level of the theater.

The ceiling in the chamber music hall 

The museum of costumes used in some of the performances by famous opera singers and ballet dancers.

One of the dresses in the museum

We are looking forward to visiting this beautiful place again!

Children's New Year Celebrations

In Kazakhstan, just as in Russia, the biggest holiday of the year is the New Year. I'll do a different post about all the things people do here to get ready for the New Year but today I wanted to tell about Novogodny Utrennik (New Year's Celebration for the kids) they do around here. This is something I did as a kid growing up in Russia, so I was excited for our girls to have a similar experience.

At the end of December each of our girls’ classes went to a New Year’s Show.  Parents buy a ticket which cost about $10-25 and which gets you in to participate in a show and at the end you get a present from Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost). Kids can come dressed as different fairy tale characters, they sing songs, dance, and play games. Each show is different but they follow the same scenario. Usually some bad characters would try to stop Ded Moroz and his granddaughter Snegurocka (Snow Maiden) from delivering the presents to the kids by kidnapping them or stealing the presents. And then some good heroes try to save the day with the kids’ help.  It is a lot of fun for the kids!

 

Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden)

 Often these shows are done at the school but our kids’ school director (principal) decided that each class should go to performances that were taking place at different entertainment centers around the town.  Sophia and Lexa’s 1^st grade class and Polina’s 3^rd grade class decided to go to a New Year’s Celebration Show to the Children’s Palace on December 20^th and Veronika’s 4^th grade class decided to go to a big entertainment center with an indoor aquarium called “Duman” on December 24^th. Besides that Nazarbayev University had a show as well, so our girls had a lot of fun.

First Lina and the twins went to their show.

Alexandra (dressed up as Night Fairy), Polina (dressed up as Snegurocka or Snow Maiden), and Sophia (dressed up as a gypsy girl) are ready for their show to start.

All the kids dressed in costumes at the Children's Palace. You can see the parents watching from the balcony.

Sophia and Alexandra's classmates and their parents.

After that show was over we went home to have a quick snack and go to Nazarbayev University to see their show that they were doing for the kids of all of the professors and administrative staff. Most of the foreign professors flew home to their various destinations that same morning, so there was just a handful of expat families and a lot of local families.

Our girls running to the place where they had the show at NU

The show began with the appearance of some Disney characters. The kids and their parents made a big circle for them.

Some interesting selection of characters.

Then the villains showed up who tried to ruin New Year for the kids

But no matter how hard the villains tried to stop Ded Moroz and Snegurochka, they still made it to the kids and the fun had begun.

Ded Moroz and Snegurochka started their show

Sophia and Lexa

The kids solved riddles, sang songs and danced.

Kids dancing

With Ded Moroz

The last of the shows was Veronika's a few days later. Their teacher let them out of school a few hours early, so the kids could get ready. My mom made it here from Krasnoyarsk, Russia the day before. She brought with her Veronika's costume which she sewed herself. Our other girls' costumes we bought at the bazaar at the beginning of December. 

Veronika dressed up as Snegurochka (Snow Maiden)

The kids were first greeted by a magical talking stump.

Then they had a visit by this cool looking Dinosaur.

Then Ded Moroz came with his Granddaughter Snegurochka

When I was a kid they would arrive on a horse sleigh. Nowadays I guess they use trains!

Again, they played games and sang songs with the kids. Then the kids could go up and recite a poem about New Years for which they would get a little present.

Then they said some magical words and lit up the big Christmas Tree (here it is called New Year's Tree) and danced some more around it.

Here is Veronika with her friend and classmate Kate after the show with their presents. 

Our kids had a lot of fun at these shows, and I am glad they experienced a little piece of my childhood.