This past July, San Francisco Ballet dancers including Dana Genshaft, Maria Kochetkova, and I traveled to Kazakhstan where we were invited to guest-perform at an annual arts festival devoted to the 10th anniversary of Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. Located in the center of the Eurasian landmass in what is known as Central Asia, Kazakhstan is bordered on the east by China, on the south by Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, on the west by the Caspian Sea, and on the north by Russia. Kazakhstan is the second largest state in terms of territory to emerge from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
First, the beautiful venue Pyramid of Peace. This was my first time dancing in a pyramid! Here I am with Dana Genshaft.
Here is a view from the stage.
This is Baiterek or the Tree of Life. The tower has come to symbolize the ambitions of the country—much like the Eiffel Tower in France.
Here’s an interesting street sign: Put on your sunglasses? We were never able to figure out what that meant!
here's the palace
And finally, a traditional tourist picture with some police men. They were more friendly than they look!
2 Comments
Thanks for sharing the photos of Kazakhstan. They are really cool! And you are an exceptional dancer.
Maybe the glasses (street sign photo) is the warning sign to watch for blind people crossing the street?
The particular crossing with the sunglasses may be near a place where blind people go to school or work, and the sunglasses are alerting drivers that blind people may be crossing.