National Even Folk Troupe ‘Nulgur’

 National folk song-and-dance group ‘Nulgur’ (translated from the Evens’ language as “nomads”) was founded in 1995.
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 three years past 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 the concerts organized in the connection with 300th  years’ anniversary of Kamchatka’s joining to Russia.

1998 – A part of 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’).

1998, March – ‘Nulgur’ made a tour over Kamchatka (2400 km long) and partook in the final gala-concert organized
dew to the 55^th 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 by 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 25. Planning for the nearest future they think about 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 deers, but at 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 speed 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.
• ‘Sea-gulls’. It is a dance that imitates the movements, character and yelling sounds of these beautiful marine birds.
• ‘Urildychi’. It is the Itelmen dance that demonstrates temper and charm of this nation.
• ‘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 peoples 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 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 a future.
• ‘Hede Song’. It is a round dance in honour of Mother-Sun and Father-Heaven. The circle-wise movement of dancers symbolizes the way of the Sun in the sky, as a source of life, light and eternity.