Gulnora Mavayeva

Dancer and ballerina, People's Artist of Uzbekistan Gulnora Mavayeva was born in 1931. She graduated from the Tamaraxonim Ballet School in 1941, the Choreography College at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1951, and the teacher training course at the St. Petersburg Choreography College in 1971; she worked as a soloist at the Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre from 1945-1949 and 1951-1957.

While working at the opera theatre, Gulnora Mavayeva learned the delicate secrets of Uzbek dance art from the master artist Mukarrama Turgunbayeva, listened to the valuable advice of Usta Olim Komilov and Tamaraxonim, and learned the magic of the art of speech from Halima Nosirova and Saodat Kabulova. «Traveling with them was extremely interesting,» recalls Gulnora Mavayeva. «They would tirelessly explain the true meaning of every word in Uzbek songs to me. This helped me find movements suitable for the words. From them, I learned to truly love Uzbek art.»

The dancer masterfully performed lead parts in European, Russian, and Uzbek ballets on the stage of the opera theatre. Leading roles in world classical masterpieces such as «Giselle», «Swan Lake», «The Sleeping Beauty», and «Esmeralda», as well as in plays such as «The Fountain of Bakhchisarai», «Shores of Happiness», «Following the Thunderstorm», and «Masquerade», and in ballets such as «Oqbilak», «Gulandom», «Oynisa», and «Legend of Kashmir» made the artist famous and brought her acclaim. Seeing her perform these parts with such devotion, composer Georgiy Mushel wrote his work «Ballerina» dedicated to her.

Gulnora Mavayeva, as a talented dancer who performed Uzbek national dances in a delicate and pleasant style, was able to perform dances like «Katta O'yin» (Big Game), «Pilla» (Cocoon), «Ferghana Style», «Shokh Qiz» (Playful Girl), «Zavqim Kelur» (My Enthusiasm Comes), «Uynasin» (Let Her Dance), «Ey Sarvi Ravon» (Oh, Graceful Cypress), and «Orazbon Lazgisi» to the delight of the audience. The dancer went on creative tours to many foreign countries with famous artists such as David Oistrakh, Georg Ots, Dmitry Bashkirov, Lyudmila Lyadova, Aram Khachaturian, and Rashid Behbudov, showcasing the rare masterpieces of Uzbek dance art. In 1953, she was awarded the first prize and a «Gold Medal» at the World Festival of Youth and Students held in Bucharest.

Gulnora Mavayeva moved to pedagogy in 1971, teaching European classical dances at the Tashkent Choreography College and, from 1974, at the Tashkent Institute of Culture and the Tashkent Choreography Institute, raising and nurturing talented dancers like Ma'mura Ergasheva.