The loss of his parents in early childhood, the difficult years of Faizi Gaskarov, spent in orphanages and a labor colony, did not in any way negatively affect the talent given to him from birth. Dance and music have always lived in the heart of Faizi Adgamovich and therefore there were no barriers to the embodiment of his vision in dance, be it folk performances or ballet. The Bashkir dancer and choreographer, honored art worker of the BASSR and the RSFSR stood at the very origins of the national ballet.
Destined to survive
One can only guess about how Fayzi Adgamovich Gaskarov's childhood passed before entering the orphanage. He lost his parents during the Civil War, he was too young to remember which orphanage he was originally assigned to. According to the recollections of the dancer's daughter, he was found in a haystack.
Then there was some kind of shelter, which later could not be found. Faizi Gaskarov recalled that it was there that he was given a name. This was followed by transfers from one children's institution to another in the city of Birsk. Presumably, the future famous choreographer was born there or near this settlement.
Most likely, the date of birth is not entirely reliable, but in all official biographical sources it is October 21, 1912. For what purpose the boy from Birsk was sent for some time to an orphanage in the Smolensk region is also a mystery. However, then, in 1924, he was redirected again to Birsk, where he studied at the pedagogical college.
We must pay tribute to the educators, teachers who took care of the teenager at that time, guided him through life, gave not just an education, but the opportunity to develop his natural dancing and musical abilities. In parallel with his studies at the pedagogical school, Faizi Gaskarov, as a student, has been attending a dance ensemble at the Bashkir Drama Theater since 1925 and studies at the Bashkir College of Arts at the music department.
On the wings of the soul
Even then, the teenager practically does not miss a single sabantui, where he is invited as a dancer. Payment for Faizi was not so much important as the pleasure that the young man experienced from each dance movement. This aroused deep respect even among eminent dancers.
The talent did not go unnoticed and the director of the Bashkir College of Arts Murtazin-Imansky gave Gaskarov a recommendation for admission to the choreographic college at the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR. There Faizi Adgamovich studied from 1928 to 1932 in the class of the legendary Igor Alexandrovich Moiseev.
And in the future, I. A. Moiseev supported the independent undertakings of Gaskarov. So, while still studying classical dance at the Leningrad Choreographic School, Faizi was in charge of the Bashkir branch of the same school, having a firm intention to create a folk dance ensemble in Bashkiria in the future.
Igor Alexandrovich gave practical advice on how and where to start, where to get the basics of traditional Bashkir dance. At the insistence of his teacher and leader, Faizi Adgamovich traveled to numerous remote settlements of his homeland in order to study everyday life and folklore. Gaskarov himself was convinced that the soul of the people lived in the dance.
This is how Faizi Adgamovich Gaskarov's work flourished with faith in dance and in a spiritual connection with it. He led a very eventful, versatile life, where his personal life faded into the background. Daughter Gulnara later admits that at home neither his wife nor the children realized what a great mission the father was carrying.
And he "hovered on the wings" of his soul and lived a dance at the same time as a dancer in the Moiseev ensemble, head of the national branch of the Leningrad Art University, teacher at the Bashkir College of Arts, choreographer of the Bashkir Drama Theater and the Republican Russian Drama Theater. Gaskarov was responsible at the same time for the quality of the set at the same LHU.
As a rule, everyone whom he brought from Bashkiria and recommended for admission to the Leningrad School turned out to be accepted. He tirelessly not only looked for those stars, but prepared the basis for the future national treasure of his republic. And the department itself at the choreographic department was opened thanks to his perseverance and a long walk through government agencies.
The legacy of a genius master
All the efforts of Faizi Adgamovich Gaskarov were not in vain. His compatriots honor the memory of the brilliant dancer and rightfully consider him the "father" of the Bashkir ballet. The name of Gascarov "thundered" at one time throughout the Union, and among the professionals of choreography the expression "Gascar's style of dance" appeared.
This means that the dance does not just consist of several elements, but is a connected plot that includes elements of the traditional rituals of the people whose culture is presented. Gaskar's "plot", the ability to see dance in a special way was also in demand in ballet.
Faizi realized in time that if his brainchild, a folk dance ensemble, performed only the Bashkir repertoire, the viewer would quickly get bored. Therefore, he staged many dances of other peoples and soon the ensemble's performances became in demand on a union scale. But the plans were to create not just a folklore ensemble, but a national ballet.
The first troupe of the Bashkir Ballet was formed in a very difficult time for the country - it was 1942. But real art is not afraid of any trials. Gaskarov takes out his charges to perform in front of the soldiers. He remained as artistic director until 1970.
Today, the Faizi Adgamovich Gaskarov case lives in this ensemble that bears his name. However, contemporaries and loyal fans believe that today the team is losing in something. Gaskarov himself was an extraordinary person and it was just such people who were attracted to him like a magnet. He brought up a whole galaxy of famous dancers.
There is an opinion of people close to him that the contribution of Faizi Gaskarov was underestimated in his homeland. But this can always be corrected and, for sure, soon there will be streets named after him and a monument to the great dancer.
