AUCA Takes Its Talents to Karakol

November 28, 2011

DARK: Drama Activists Rocking Karakol

 

“Everything that happens in Karakol, stays in Karakol.”  That would only be true if the “New Star” was not there to cover it.  Fortunately, not only was the “New Star” there, but also 50 AUCA students and staff to represent AUCA on a 3 day trip to Karakol. The main purpose of the trip was to promote the AUCA way of life outside of Bishkek.

On November 24, 2011, AUCA students arrived in Karakol to the sound of music.  A group of mostly freshmen and sophomores presented the AUCA Initiation Concert, a compilation of some of the best acts from AUCA’s flagship drama performance.

The students’ prepared night and day to produce a quality show before arriving in Karakol.  Rehearsals started just after the annual Initiation show on November 8th, and continued right on up to departure.

 

Day 1

 

On November 24, at about 11:00, one big bus and one minibus departed AUCA with over 50 students and staff.  The drive lasted more than 7 hours, with the group arriving in Karakol about 19:00.  On the way the freshmen showed their energy and killed time by singing songs and playing games.     

After settling in at Hotel Issyk-Kol and getting something to eat, the performance team had their first meeting to get organized for the day ahead. The meeting was held in the dining room of the hotel, which was reminiscent of the Oval Office, and made Dean of Students Nikolay Shulgin look like the next President of the United States.

The seriousness of the Oval Office was not lost on the students, as they stayed late into the night to practice their routines for the next day.

Aihan Nurjan, one of the participants in the show, said, “Well to begin with, I was at AUCA at 9.00 a.m. as agreed, then Bema came to me and said, ‘Julia got sick, you're going to dance instead,’ and gave me the outfit. During our trip to Karakol, I caught a cold. After dinner, my temperature rose, I had a headache, and my cheeks were burning.  I had every reason to lie in bed and never come out! But when everyone began to rehearse in the evening, I pulled myself up, pinned a smile on my face, and learned the dance. It was hard at the beginning, but I learned it in time for the show the next day. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to go to Karakol and get the response that we did.”

The healthier students managed to stay up talking and singing until 3 am.

 

Day 2

 

At 8:00 Dean Nikolay Grigorevich woke everyone up for breakfast. That’s how that day began. After eating they went to the theater to get ready for the day. There were no special workers to setup the equipment, so our students transformed into roadies and did all the work by themselves.

14:00.  The performance started with Niokaly Grigorevich’s short speech. Songs, Dances, sketches and energy followed, leaving the audience feeling positive and exalted.

After the show, all of the participants embraced each other, united in the rush of completing their first show away from the friendly confines of AUCA.

Despite not rehearsing on the Karakol stage, the show was performed perfectly. One of the participants, Vyacheslav Kim commented, “No wonder, we trained so hard for this day, and also performing the show for the second time was much easier.”

The day concluded with solo concerts by Nikolay Grigorevich, Alibek and Nikita on the guitar. Students gathered together in one room and sang songs in chorus. After this “room concert” there was a celebration for Victoria Alyabeva’s birthday, who performed the song “At last” at Initiation as well as in Karakol.

After supper we had our last group meeting in the Oval Office, where students had a chance to share their feelings, opinions and impressions of the trip and show, and to thank each other for the support. Then there was a party.

 

Day 3

Breakfast stopped the party at 8:00, and the group left Karakol for Bishkek around 9:20.

The 7-hour trip from Karakol to Bishkek was divided into three phases (at least in the minibus):

Sleep

Sing

The realization that the trip is over.

This sadness did not go away after unloading the equipment.  Nikolay Grigorevich pronounced everyone “Free,” but most of us did not want to be free.  One of the students, photographer Ilias Nurmambetov, said, “It was a great trip. All of the participants are closer to each other now than we were before. I think it will be remembered for a long time among those who were there. Look for photos on Facebook. Thanks to all the organizers, sponsors and participants.”

As everybody departed to their homes, it was clear that something of the trip remained in their hearts. Something that will never let them forget about these last three days.  Something that will help us remember these days again and again.

I’m not sure what this “something” is, but I hope that we left such a “something” in the hearts of the Karakol citizens, who watched us in the theater on November 25.

Some quotes from Facebook:

 

Kurmanjan Abdysamatova Nikogda ne zabudu eti zame4atel'nye tri dnya :) My..... BANDAAA!!! :)

Olga Shen Daaa,eto bili samie krutie 3 dnya v jizni!!!)))

Chopa Tursunalieva aaaaaaaa.....uje skuchaaaaaaayu!!!!!!!

Iurii Kim хочу туда вернуться...блин, дайте мне машину времени

Aihan Nurjan nesmotrya na holod, syruyu postel', v obwem koli4estve 12 ili daje bol'we 4asov ezdy, i poslednuyu no4' (6 chelovek na 2 krovatyah), a ewe i "Aihan, tebe mama zvonit!!!!" ..xDDDD ....eti 3 dnya ostavlyayut tol'ko samye prekrasnye, samye lu4wie vospominaniya!!!!! vsem bol'woe spasibo za otli4noe nastroenie, za podderjku nu i za wokoladki Chopowke!!!!...xDDDD....=*))))))

Olya Veselova eto bili samie veselie 3 dnya!))vse o4en' sblizilis'!))i eto klassno!))

Timur Kutbidinovich Najimidinov спасибо Айхане за оленей, Айжаке за bitches bitches, Славе за шарф, Адилету за тесты и Всем Всем Всем за веселейшую поездку ! :D и отдельное спасибо Ильясу и Арону!

Aijaka Kadyrova Rebyata, bylo real'no sdorovo!!! Kajdaya minuta byla po svoemu ofigennoi!!! Spasibo vsem kto tam byl!!! I osobenno vsem kto tusil celymi nochami u nas v 15-oi komnate!!! Byla rada podnimat' vam nastroenie!!! Vsem spasibo za pozitiff!!!!! AUCAshniki ruuuuulyat!!!! :)

 

By Atai MURATBEKOV

Photos by Ilias NURMAMBETOV

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