(KZN.RU,
April 26, Alsu Safina). Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, met with retired
people in the cultural center “Saidash”: participants of the city project
“Zhiznelub”. The head of the city visited classes on vocals, choreography, and
theatrical art. The pensioners thanked him for the opportunity to spend their
free time actively and interestingly.
The
cultural center “Saidash” in the Sovetsky district of Kazan organized
multi-disciplinary classes for pensioners of the club on interests “Zhiznelub”
one of the first of city leisure establishments. The project, which started
last year in December, is being implemented today in 12 city cultural centers.
Classes in
the CC “Saidash” on choreography, theatrical art, vocals, including Tatar,
recitations in Russian and Tatar, as well as lectures on gardening are attended
by local pensioners and residents of other areas of the city with pleasure.
Classes on
vocals were held in one of the halls of the cultural center in the morning.
Ilsur Metshin visited the rehearsals and was surprised by what he heard, as the
newcomers gathered in the team. “I used to sing in the choir as a child and I
can hear choral singing. You are already good at it”, noted the Mayor.
Daniya
Novichikhina, one of the participants, said that she had wanted to sing for a
long time, but could not because of her work. “In January, I quit my job and
heard about “Zhiznelub” in a social protection. I chose “Saidash” by the place
of residence. I sing with pleasure, with soul. I come here like on a holiday”,
she confessed. “Previously, I wanted to lie down at home, but now there is no
time! During this time, I've copied 250 songs, which we are studying”, she
added, showing folders with songs.
“You have a
new life. We set ourselves such task that people, going on pension, did not sit
at home. And you cannot be called pensioners”, said Ilsur Metshin.
Participants
warmly spoke about their leader Elvira Krupina, who also heads the folk
veterans choir “Volzhanka”, based in the “Saidash”. “We have a wonderful
leader. This is our “mommy”, our soul. We literally run to her”, said the club
members.
Elvira
Krupina was given a new accordion on behalf of the Mayor of Kazan in honor of
the Day of the Cultural Worker at the end of March. She happily demonstrated it
in action today. Azat Abzalov, the head of the Department of Culture, said that
it will be possible to hear participants of the “Zhiznelub” on two sites on theVictory
Day on May the 9th: in the Pobeda Park, where they will perform together with
veterans' choirs, and on the Sovetskaya Square. And today, the participants of
the project rehearsed the songs of the war years.
At the same
time, the other participants of the project practiced the movements of the
cha-cha dance with Latin American music in the gym. Maria Timofeeva, a graduate
student at the Kazan Institute of Culture, conducts lessons in choreography.
According to her, such experience helps her in writing her thesis.
Ilsur
Metshin asked the participants how they learned about the project. It turned
out that both ways of active informing of the population and a word-of-mouth
marketing worked out. Azat Abzalov explained that information about the project
was located in shops, pension fund departments, in management companies,
polyclinics – every place where pensioners attend most often. 5-6 calls about
the place and time of classes are received by the project hotline daily:
236-42-93.
Rustem
Gafarov, the head of the Sovetsky district’s administration, noted that
concerts at outdoor venues are organized every Friday and Saturday in the
district. “I’m waiting for an invitation. See you at your concert!”, said Ilsur
Metshin.
Further,
the Mayor attended the theatrical group, which was studying in the assembly
hall of the “Saidash”. Vera Filyanina, one of the oldest participants of the
project (91 years old) has chosen a theatrical direction for herself. Even
today she rehearsed on the stage of the cultural center.
In total,
about 350 people attend classes within the framework of the project in the CC
“Saidash”. “Communication is very important for the older generation. Houses of
culture and libraries are becoming centers of social life”, noted the head of
the Culture Department. He also said that singing, dancing, and drawing are
among the top 3 popular classes among project’s participants. “Now the coverage
of the older generation is 4 thousand people in Kazan: in addition to the
participants of the project “Zhiznelub”, which are already over 2 thousand,
there are 2 thousand participants of established veterans' groups”, added Azat
Abzalov. According to him, the number of those who joined the project has more
than doubled in just a few months.
For today,
1.5 thousand people are engaged in club groups of the “Saidash”, and 100
thousand Kazan citizens attend numerous events with the participation of 63
teams, involved there. The Jazz Orchestra “Fantasy” and chamber ballet
“Panther” are among unique collectives. According to Rustem Zamaleev, the
director of the cultural center, annually about 50 major events are held, which
take place both in the cultural center and in open areas.