Listen the songs of Kamchatka inhabitants (in MP3 format)
Nulgur
The Dawn’. It is the Even lyrical dance. It is the early morning. Deer herders admire the dawn. The young women appear on the glade inviting the young men for a dance. The Sun shines over the couples and gives its warmth to everybody.
Nymylansky dance’. It is performed by women only. This is a Coast Koryak dance that differs from other Koryak dances by its special dance technique.
Chaser Song’. It is the Evens comic dance.

National Holidays of the North people of Kamchatka

Alkhalalalay (national Itelmen holiday) will take place since the 7th till the 10th of September in Kovran village.

Ololo (national Koryak holiday) - in the 15th of October in Lesnaya village (settlement Palana).

Hololo (national Koryak holiday) - in November in Karaga village.

Bystrinsky Region will celebrate its day of establishment (it's 70-years old) in the 12th of August.

National Even Folk Troupe ‘Nulgur’

National folk song-and-dance group ‘Nulgur’ (translated from the Evens’ language as “nomads”) was founded in 1985. This troupe has chosen a thorny path of the revival and stage creation of the best samples of Kamchatka natives’ folklore. The Bystrinsky region of Kamchatka is mostly inhabited by natives called the Evens. That is why the large part of the group’s repertoire consists of the Evens’ folk songs, dances and fairy-tales. For the three past years, this folk group introduced their concert program to the audiences in Kamchatka, Moscow, and abroad.

1996 – The Days of The Evens’ culture in Kamchatka.

1997 – The Days of The Evens’ culture in Moscow. ‘Nulgur’ participated in concerts devoted to the 300  years’ anniversary of Kamchatka’s joining Russia.

1998 – The group gave a number of concerts, appearing at the stage of The Museum of Natural History in New York City (USA).

1998 – This folk group became a laureate of The Regional Folklore Festival of the Indigenous People of Kamchatka ‘Zolotye Rodniki – 98’ (‘golden springs’).

The youngest dancer.1998, March – ‘Nulgur’ made a tour over Kamchatka (2400 km long) and participated in the final gala-concert organized to celebrate the 55th birthday of A.V.Gyl, the founder of Koryaks folk group ‘Mengo’.

1999, May – They became a laureate of The Regional Folklore Festival of the Indigenous People of Kamchatka ‘Zolotye Rodniki – 99’.

1999, May – ‘Nulgur’ soloists were awarded the Diplomas of Laureate in All-Russian Folklore Festival of the Peoples of the North ‘Severnoye Siyanie’ (‘northern lights’).

This folk group consists of 16 artists of an average age of 25. In the nearest future they think about creating a new professional folk song-and-dance group on the basis of  “Nulgur”.

The Program of the National Even Folk Group “Nulgur”

  • The Dawn’. It is the Even lyrical dance. It is the early morning. Deer herders admire the dawn. The young women appear on the glade inviting the young men for a dance. The Sun shines over the couples and gives its warmth to everybody.
  • Munikkan’. It is a dance of deer herders. Munikkan and Konaldukh are musical instruments. In ordinary life these instruments are used for gathering deer, but at the feast time every person tries to perform the best dance and tune on these instruments. The sound of every single instrument depends on its size.
  • Swan Song’. This dance, which expresses the relationship between a swan couple through their love dance, is based on the Even folklore.
  • Hede’. It is the Even group dance.
  • Bridegroom’. It is the Even comic dance.
  • Tchavchuvensky dance’. It is the dance of North Koryaks that imitates fast movements of reindeers and their reserved character.
  • Nymylansky dance’. It is performed by women only. This is a Coast Koryak dance that differs from other Koryak dances by its special dance technique.
  • Timbrel-players’. It is a dance that demonstrates the skills of men in playing the timbrel.
  • Seals’. This dance is an adagio from the new play of A.Gyl, a founder of Koryaks folk group ‘Mengo’. It represents a court play of the seals.
  • Seagulls’. It is a dance that imitates the movements, character, and squawking of these beautiful marine birds.
  • Urildychi’. It is the Itelmen dance that demonstrates the temper and charm of this tribe.
  • Guttural singing’. This dance is accompanied by guttural singing that exactly reproduces the sounds of birds and animals in tundra.
  • Norgali’. It is a dance of all the tribes of Kamchatka that is usually performed at all national holidays. It is based on the improvisation and is accompanied by tribal songs and sounds of timbrel.
  • Budyna Song’. This is a song of a young deer herder. In this song he asks his deer to bring him to his beloved as soon as possible. The woman waits for him to come every day, staring far over the blue hills and up the stream. The deer herder asks the wind to blow over his beloved tenderly called ‘Sunny’, and tell her about the love of her man.
  • Amduur Song’. This song tells about the warmth of the hearth, about the faithful wife and lovely children waiting for their husband and father to come back after a long way, where he can have a cup of hot tea and think of the future.
  • Hede Song’. It is a round dance in honor of Mother-Sun and Father-Heaven. The circle movement of dancers symbolizes the way of the Sun in the sky, as a source of life, light and eternity.

 

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