JOLDA Dance Theatre joined the 36th Macao Arts Festival, one of Asia’s major international arts events. Presenting two productions, the company became part of a program celebrating contemporary performance and cultural exchange across the region.
This double bill by Jolda Dance Theatre brings together two distinct yet connected works, Tamyr and Timeless, both exploring how the body carries memory, identity and experience.
Moving between cultural roots and the passage of time, the two pieces offer different perspectives on how individuals relate to what came before them and what may remain after.
Tamyr
Tamyr unfolds as a living ritual – an act of memory and spiritual connection. It poses a simple yet profound question: what, or who, stands behind us?
The performance draws on the Kazakh bata – a traditional form of blessing, often recited by elders, carrying hope and faith in the future. Here, it becomes both a cultural reference and a performative element.
The word ‘Tamyr’ means ‘roots’. Like the unseen system that sustains a tree, roots nourish and anchor. By turning to the past, one may find continuity and strength.
At the same time, roots also hold what is unresolved or forgotten. The work explores vulnerability and fear, not as weaknesses to overcome, but as integral parts of the self. By acknowledging them, a sense of grounding and wholeness may emerge.
Timeless
At the core of Timeless lies the idea of recurring cycles. Wars, conflicts and acts of violence return throughout history, shifting in form but not in nature.
Against this repetition, another force persists: the desire for connection, for creation, for love.
Art emerges here as an act of resistance – a way to reflect, transform and leave a trace. In this sense, the work asks a quiet but pressing question: what will remain after us?
Creative and Production Team
Tamyr
Director: Jeanne Tulendy
Producer: Mikhail Prikhodko
Choreographers and Dancers: Gulsaya Tauirkhanova and Mariia Gubanova
Music: Mark Ratner
Costume Designer: Tamara Said
Set Designer: Mark Kuklin
Lighting Designer: Ekaterina Zlobina
Vocals: Kirill Ussoltsev, Nadima Tokhtarova and Duman Raiymberdiyev
International Partnerships and Collaborations: Nafissat Yermagambetova
Timeless
Director and Choreographer: Artur Galimullin
Producer: Mikhail Prikhodko
Dance Dramaturg: Alexander Andriyashkin
Music: Ella Baiysbayeva
Costume Designer: Tamara Said
Lighting Designer: Ekaterina Zlobina
Dancers: Ivan Mozhaykin, Alimzhan Kairat, Lora Anton, Irina Kolesnikova and Mariia Gubanova
