A Discussion of the reporter from Tuvinskaya Pravda with the poet and dramaturgist, member of the Writers’ Union and Union of Theatre Workers of Russia, Merited Artist of Republic Tuva, Eduard Mizhit.

-Eduard Bairovich, tell us, please, briefly, about the history of making the play.

-Many years ago, during a discussion with the outstanding director, now a Merited Artist of Russian Federation, national artist Alexei Oorzhak, it became clear that our interests and ideas concerning history of Tuva and its present are very similar.

At that time the idea of producing a trilogy about the ancient history of Tuva was born. The historical drama-essay, which later also became a spectacle, “Who are you, Subedei?” became its first part. The historical drama “Kultegin” is the second part of the planned trilogy. The drama was written in 1996, and in 1997, there were some additions and corrections.

Kara-ool Dopchun-ool shamanizing. The one who speaks with the spirits believes that the main problem of humanity is lack of spirituality. Photo by Yevgeniy Antufyev.

The author of the project set up an ideal goal – healing of the Earth. He believes that there is just one hope for humanity: to return to life in harmony with nature.

And to make that happen, everybody has to change inwardly, instead trying to change others. “ All lives are interconnected one with another by indelible ties”, is one of the main themes of the project.

“Adyg Eeren”, based in Kyzyl, submitted an application to participate in this project and was accepted.

The Drum of the World will come to republic Tuva in May 2009 and will stay until July.

Following the direction of the Kamby-Lama of the Republic, Tuvan Government officially determined the date of the Buddhist New Year – Shagaa. The date falls on a different day every year, and has to be calculated by the astrologists of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia. This year it falls on February 25.

The regulation which designates February 25 as a free day was accepted by the Parliament of the Republic on January 29, in accordance with the law “Government holidays in Republic Tuva”. The law-givers also stretched out the preceding work week, transferring the free day of Sarturday, Feb.21 to Tuesday, Feb.24 – “ for the reason of rational use of free and non-working days.”. That way, Shagaa, together with the “red” Monday, a Russian holiday dedicated to the Patriot Defenders of the country, will constitute a 4-day pre-new-year vacation.

On January 31, at 11:00 am, in the Museum of A. Grin, an exhibition of drawings of the remarkable young artist from Moscow, Nadia Rusheva, will be opened. Art historians called her a girl-genius, “the greatest of the young, and the youngest of the great”. Nadia’s life ended abruptly at the age of 17 years. Her parents donated her drawings to the museum dedicated to the works of A.Grin.

In Kyzyl, the premiere of the spectacle “Kultegin”, produced by director Alexei Oorzhak after the epic drama by Eduard Mizhit, was presented to a full house. The subject of the drama is based on the text of the famous monument of Orkhon-Yenisei writing of VI-VII Centuries, carved on a stone stele, concerning the life history of the “hero of all Turks”, Kultegin, Prince of the Eastern Turkic Khanate.

Evraz Group said Monday that it had renounced the right to purchase the license to develop the Mezhegeiskoye coal deposit, which it won in a hotly contested auction last year, because of weakening market conditions. Evraz unit Yuzhkuzbassugol had offered 16.9 billion rubles ($510 million) to win the right to the license in July, beating out competitors including Oleg Deripaska's Basic Element for the deposit in the Tuva region.

The all-female throat-singing group Tyva Kyzy sang in Olympia during its first U.S. tour. That stop, in 2005, was the first performance at South Puget Sound Community College's Minnaert Center for the Arts. On Friday, the group - whose name is pronounced "Tuva K'zih" - returns on its third tour. "It's our first repeat," said center director Cassandra Welliver.

The Tuvan National Orchestra has a new home on the Internet: http://www.tuvannationalorchestra.com. This English-language website includes audio clips of some of the Orchestra’s most popular songs, including “Men Tyva Men” (I am Tuvan), as well as video clips, photos, a brief history of the Orchestra, and a biographical sketch of Ayana Samiyaevna Mongush, the Orchestra’s brilliant artistic director.

Alash just wrapped up a tour of the United States that took them through Texas, the Midwest, and the Northeast. Their concerts were attended by a combination of amazed new fans and enthusiastic returning fans, some of whom traveled great distances and braved snow storms for the opportunity to hear Alash. Concert-goers were totally absorbed in the music commenting, “I could listen all night,” and “I felt myself traveling back to the times of the ancestors.” The musicians have such a good rapport with their audience that the crowd at Barbes in Brooklyn burst into a chorus of “Happy Birthday” when Sean Quirk mentioned that it was Ayan-ool Sam’s birthday.