Elena Balina, our regular author and passionate lover of excursions, travels, festivals, exhibitions and concerts
Throughout the festival, "Dubai Summer Surprises" on the stage of the Birthday Hall of Sheikha Fatma in the "Modhesh Fun City", Russian circus and pop artists demonstrated their skills in colorful, vibrant and unforgettable performances. Every evening - a full house, every evening - the delight of the audience, every evening - a holiday that is always with you.
This fall, the organizer of performances by Russian artists, holiday processions and carnivals, the head of Tatiana Entertiment, a business lady, Tatyana Frederick, celebrates the 20th anniversary of her business in the UAE. After the performance, I met with Tatyana to convey to the readers the multifaceted nature of the activities of her unique company.
- Tatyana, this summer we saw a whole kaleidoscope of performances by Russian artists - these are carnival processions in Dubai shopping centers in the first week of the festival, and the performance show "New Bremen Town Musicians", and circus shows with the participation of the youngest actors and trained dogs ... Why and when did you decide to do all this?
I have been engaged in festival show programs since the very first birthday of the Dubai Trade Festival (DTF) in 1996. As for the Dubai Summer Surprises (DLS), during the first six years I brought carnivals and parades to their opening ceremonies. Then the artists in colorful elegant costumes walked along the streets and parks of the city on stilts, with musical instruments in their hands, performing all kinds of acrobatic stunts on the go, which caused joyful laughter and applause from passers-by. In addition to costumed carnival processions, I was involved in organizing various performances and cultural programs in the framework of the DTF, international sports championships, and government events. At first I worked directly in the Dubai government - in the Department of Economic Development, and in 2002 I opened my own company, which organizes performances by Russian creative groups and organizes cultural exchanges between Russia and the UAE. In my company I am a producer, and an impresario, and an art director. For performances in Dubai, artists from Yekaterinburg, Cherepovets, Khabarovsk, Moscow and the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg and other cities, the children's circus of Konakovo ...
- Now we are talking about shows that are made specifically for the summer festival, I understand correctly?
That's right. We are preparing some performances for the summer festival, and others for the winter shopping festival. Usually in summer it is an entreprise, that is, speaking in theatrical language, all artists are invited specially for a specific project. Shows change every year: new themes are selected, costumes are being prepared, the cast of artists may also vary, but there are regular participants in Dubai festivals that we have been working with for more than a year.
- How do you manage to prepare both the performance itself and all the “accessories” to it: light, costumes, music at such a high level?
Each of our shows is first prepared in the head: a storyline is born, the specifics of circus numbers, the ideas of costumes are determined. Then the plan is discussed with the invited director, I approve the costumes, and the practical preparation of performances begins. We choose fabrics, order costumes, discuss stage design, choose life-size puppets, think over accessories and decoration items, such as for example the wagon in the Bremen, select music for the rooms. Our artists are professionals, so the whole show is "assembled" in place in just a few days. For example, we rehearsed performances for the current “Dubai Summer Surprises” here and only four days before the performances.
- The first festival show of this summer was created based on the fairy tale "The Bremen Town Musicians", in the second performance young gymnasts performed more like professional athletes than circus performers. What kind of team is this?
For the fourth time, the gymnastics team “Children’s Olympic Hope” has come to Dubai for training camps, during which athletes prepare for the competition, honing their skills and verifying all the details of gymnastic exercises. A stunning number of gymnasts with ribbons was first presented at the Sydney Olympics, and it was being prepared here. Anastasia Burdina, whose performance fascinated the entire audience - the five-time Junior World Champion, and one of our smallest artists - Alisa Bukh (Sturlitte), who was in the final number of the performance called "Goodbye, circus!", Took 3rd place in Moscow and is the winner of the open Baltic Championship among children under 9 years old.
- Does the management of the festival “Dubai Summer Surprises” assist you in organizing theatrical performances?
I am very glad that my numerous comments about the stage, light, sound and the actual process of organizing the show reached my colleagues - the leaders of the DLS and DTF. The organizing committee of the festivals decided to acquire a professional stage with a rotating middle and a sliding back, special lighting and sound, and maybe even laser equipment. Now, when all this becomes possible, I can only suggest and choose what kind of equipment of my company and invited artists will be needed to prepare and conduct further events on an ongoing basis.
- Maybe share with readers the plans of your company, which have not yet been implemented and are of mutual interest, both for the Emirates and for the Russian side?
I have a lot of plans. I would like to open an Academy of Arts in the UAE, in which both local and foreign children, including from Russia and the CIS, as well as students from different parts of the world, will study. I am sure that students from Syria, Egypt, Jordan and other countries who study art, choreography, ballet, and musical disciplines in Russia will be happy to study with Russian teachers in Dubai. Because here they are close and understandable culture, it is interesting to communicate with peers, not leaving far from home and on the spot studying the Russian school of painting, choreography, music. I hope to include students of the Institute of Oriental Studies here, because the guys studying the Arabic language have not been able to go to practice in Arab countries for eight years. I have both the desire and the ability to help them in this.
In addition, there are long-standing plans that had a promising start, but stalled. For example, the organization of an exhibition of unique exhibits of the reserves of Gokhran of Russia in the UAE. There is a formal agreement with the government of Dubai, a memorandum has been signed with the Dubai Multi Community Center on guarantees of the inviolability of Russian rarities and treasures from the state repository. Mr. Rybkin, Director of Gokhran, came to Dubai to draw up official papers and negotiations on the topic of holding such an exhibition at my invitation. But, despite the guarantees made by the Dubai side, all the signed papers have been gathering dust on the table of the Minister of Finance for almost half a year now, and, alas, no positive changes are taking place.
And yet another idea remains unclaimed. The exhibition of genuine exhibits of Gokhran also included an exposition of ancient jewelry from the Russian Diamond Fund, as well as the Russian charity Diamond Ball. To prepare this project, I did tremendous work: I bought a batch of rough diamonds in Yakutia, processed them in Moscow, brought them to Dubai, came up with very beautiful invitation cards, each of which contained a velvet bag with a diamond.
It was planned that the motto of the charity ball will be the phrase: "Give a carat to a child!" Guests purchasing tickets to the ball would automatically buy my diamond, and the proceeds from the sale would go to help children in need of social support. By the way, only diamonds were purchased for half a million dollars. Imagine how many children could be helped. But the charity "Diamond Ball" did not take place due to the lack of confirmation of the participation of the Russian side.
I really want you to note on the pages of the magazine that all my attempts to present Russia as a great country with a rich culture were unsuccessful only through the fault of Russian bureaucrat officials. This is my personal opinion, as a person who has been engaged in the Middle East for 20 years in the work that officials should have performed for government agencies specially created for this purpose.
Well, for now, along with a team of like-minded people, as always, I continue to delight the Emirate audience with colorful and highly professional theatrical performances, carnivals and shows. Russian land has always been rich in talents; their skills are valued and loved in Dubai.
- I would like to believe that all your grandiose plans will one day be realized, and your wishes will be heard. Thank you for the interview.
