Hey Kyzyl! Does anyone have friends who attended Edegey classes? Do they remembers the constant stories about how much the stern coach and how heavy the headgear is at the performance? The viewer, on the other hand, watches the smooth movements of the dancers, and does not realise how much labour and many hundreds of hours of rehearsals were invested in each act.
Every person who is acquainted with Tuva would have seen Edegey dancers. They perform at all major festivals, not only in Tuva but across Russia and present Russia internationally.
The current “Edegey” ensemble was founded in 1999. It was created by the “Vyacheslav Dongak Culture Foundation” charity. The now famous ensemble, as all success stories, started out as a small group, in this case of passionate choreographers.
There is a funny story about finding a name for the dance company. According to the head of the ensemble Kima Dongak, the project was nameless for a while. “Edegey” just sort of emerged in dialogue – the name of a small place in Barun-Khemchik kozhuun. The name’s root is “edee”, its rough meaning – “the foot of the mountain”. More than 350 talented dancers aged from 5 to 20 currently perform as part of “Edegey”. The gloriously garish costumes, seamless cooperation between the dancers and the exploration of various deep themes make “Edegey” the dancing pride out our dear Tuva.
Models: Edegey’s composition
Photographer: Enkhzhin Mongush
On the 11th August, 1939 the government of the People’s Republic of China approved the drawing of new banknotes.
What was before the aksha? Barter prevailed. Arats handed furs, cattle, agricultural raw materials over to private firms, and in exchange received industrial goods. In the statehood period, Tuva used Soviet Rubles and paper Chervontsi, Chinese Yuan, Mongolian Tugriks.