SULTAN BAYBARS

Biography

Two-act ballet.

Music - Khamit Shangaliev, Alibek Alpiev. Choreography - Mukaram Avahri. Libretto - Bakhyt Kairbekov. Scenography - Leonid Basin. Costumes - Asya Solovieva. Light - Arseny Safiullin.

The ballet was created for the troupe of the Astana Ballet Theatre, the premiere took place on December 1, 2020.

Characters and performers: Baybars Sultan - Kazbek Akhmedyarov; Baybars teenager - Bekdaulet Sarsenkhan; Qutuz - Farkhad Buriyev; Shajar Ad-Durr - Ainura Abilgazina; Baybars' mother - Aliya Aitbayeva; Steppe Slave - Ainura Nuspekova; Crusaders’ leader - David Jonathan; Leader of the Mongols- Eldar Sarsembayev.

The fate of a man who went the way from a warrior-slave (Mamluk) to a powerful ruler of the most powerful State in the Middle East in the XIII century is amazing and contradictory. Sultan Baybars deserved the names "Abu al-Futuh" ("Father of Victories") and "Rukn-ad-din" ("Support of Faith"). Born in the steppes of Desht-i-Kypchak, Baybars I entered the world history forever as a great commander who dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the Mongol Horde. Many legends about Baybars have been preserved, there are many versions of the story about the dizzying life of the Sultan, but they all agree on one thing: throughout his life he kept in his soul a nostalgic love for the historical Motherland - the Kypchak steppe.