The Ensemble's tour of the cities of the People's Republic of China has begun

The last week of the outgoing year is always a pleasant pre-holiday hustle and bustle. Most Russians traditionally celebrate the New Year at home, with their families. But the artists of the Academic Order "For Merit in Culture and Art" of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the National Guard Troops, under the direction of the artistic director and chief conductor, People's Artist of Russia, Major General Viktor Eliseev will be far from home this New Year's Eve - on December 26, 2024, the group went on a tour of the cities of the People's Republic of China.

In China, they know and love the work of our group. The first tour of the Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia to the People's Republic of China took place back in 1995. The performances of the Ensemble were so popular with the residents of the Celestial Empire that tours to China have become regular since then. Over the past almost 30 years, the group has come 16 times, and all performances were a huge success with the Chinese public.

A bright page in the annals of the Ensemble was a large tour of 23 cities in China, which took place in the fall of 2019 as part of the celebrations dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In 2024, the creative team of the Ensemble prepared a new concert program for a tour of China. The program included both classic works by Soviet composers, including songs of the war years, as well as folk songs and vocal and choreographic compositions. “The Holy War” (A. Alexandrov, V. Lebedev-Kumach), “March of the Artillerymen (T. Khrennikov, V. Gusev)”, “Katyusha” (M. Blanter, M. Isakovsky), “Darkie” (A. Novikov, Y. Shvedov) “Oh, the viburnum is blooming” (I. Dunaevsky, M. Isakovsky), sailor dance “Apple” (directed by Honored Artist of Russia P. Kovalev, musical arrangement by M. Press), a potpourri of soldiers' songs, a potpourri of Leonid Utesov's songs - these and other immortal works, beloved by several generations of Russians, are always very warmly received by the Chinese public.

One of the components of this success is the Ensemble's wonderful tradition of performing vocal compositions in the language of the country where it is touring. Chinese folk songs and songs by Chinese composers, performed in the original language, invariably cause undisguised delight among the audience and "tear off" a storm of applause. Among them are "Oh, Yangtze" (soloist - Honored Artist of Russia Alexei Volzhanin), "China - the sun does not set" and "The Sun Never Falls". (soloist - Honored Artist of the Republic of North Ossetia - Alania Grigory Yakovlev), "Good Men" (soloist - Evgeny Filyanov) and "Without the Communist Party there would be no new China" (performed by the choir and orchestra of the Ensemble). "Song of the Sea" is the name of a Chinese folk song, which, at the request of the audience, People's Artist of Russia Natalia Eliseeva always performs as an encore.

The Ensemble's performances in China - this is a sign of boundless friendship between our peoples, mutual interest in the musical culture of Russia and China.

The first concert of the Ensemble as part of the winter tour (2024-2025) in China will take place on December 27, 2024 in the city of Sihui. Our artists are already eagerly awaited by spectators in the cities of Dianmen, Jiaoqing, Fuoshan, Jonshan, Chinyuan, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Shyamet, Fuzhou, Ningbo, Yinzhuan.

Let's wish our artists great success with the Chinese public!