Altai National Dance Theater “Altam” as a laboratory of practical implementation of the results of research work on studying traditional culture of the Altai people

Abstract

The subject of this research is the analysis of choreographic art of the Altai Republic in the context of reconstruction of the concepts of traditional culture of the Altai people on the example of the State National Dance Theater “Altam”. Relevance of the selected topic lies in the fact that Altai dance is studied virtually for the first time. The article reviews the traditional culture of the Altai people, namely dance culture. The goal is to examine Altai dance as an independent form of choreographic art in reconstruction of the artistic stage imagery. The theoretical and practical significance consists in proving the relevance of analysis of the activity of the Altai Dance Theater “Altam” as a laboratory of practical implementation of the results of research work on studying traditional culture of the Altai people. The acquired results on the development of choreographic art in the Altai Republic give a better perspective on the artistic-imagery structure of stage performance. The methodological framework is based on the art, historical, and comparative methods that allows clarifying the specificity of development of the Altai folk choreography in the context of ethnic theatrical art, as well as revealing the peculiarities of such organics in creating the artistic-imagery structure of stage performance. Scientific novelty lies in the attempt to generalize and analyze the sources for studying the Altai dance. The author traces the evolution of the national choreographic art, beginning with the folklore origins. The article introduces into the scientific discourse the factual material, such as examination of dance elements in petroglyphs, folk epic tales, folklore, cultural rites, folk games and songs. The author observes the transformation of the indicated range of sources in various genres of national choreography. The analysis of ethnic creativity of the Altai National Dance Theater “Altam” demonstrates that for many years Altai dance integrates the typical for Altai people motions, poses, gestures, substantiated by ethno-genetic identification. The article directly connects the traditional Altai dance and formation of the Altai folk stage dance for the purpose of establishment and development of the professional choreographic art of the Altai people.