B. Sergelen: You only have to enjoy classical arts, nothing more

The following interview is with former ballet dancer B. Sergelen, Chairwoman of State Theatre of Opera and Ballet. She is known as ‘the queen of classic arts’ locally.

“You do not have to burden yourself trying to understand classic art. Just enjoy it and leave it at that,” she says. This interview is translated from Zuunii Medee newspaper, a local Mongolian newspaper.

-You retired from ballet at the age of 30. What made you decide to do this? Do you regret your decision? 

-The age of 30 is very young for a person. At that time, I was standing right in the middle of the road of ballet. I thought I would either continue this for 10 or more years , or I would pick another profession that is close to ballet. You cannot choose your country, nationality or your parents but you can choose your career, friends and mate, so I believe that the latter decisions are more valuable. I do not regret this decision because I made it myself. Although I am now a manager of arts, in my heart, I am still a ballet dancer. 

-You seem to be very dedicated to ballet. What is the reason for this? 

-I used to dream of becoming a violinist or a pianist. But by 1989 I had studied for eight years and had decided that I would become a ballet dancer, and since then my career and life have been solidly connected with this pink building for 23 years [State Theatre of Opera and Ballet building]. Although I have left ballet dancing, I have been involved with many other interests—but the organization I belong to is still the same. One of the happiest times of my life was when I joined the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet in 1999. I was born in UB but given my parents were appointed to Darkhan city to assist in its development, I was raised there. I used to attend singing and ballet curriculums; and accidentally passed a ballet test. Generally, in any society it is understood that the classical arts are a type of art dedicated to the wealthy. Classical arts are also an extraordinary art form that can give the highest possible entertainment and satisfaction those who can understand it. It is not possible to fully value what it can give us. The closer you are to the classical arts, the greater your social standing will be and your personal opinions will therefore change. I think we all could benefit from learning to enjoy and be entertained by classical arts. If we could do that, I think it would bring us more happiness and peace. 

-People say there is not enough management in the Mongolian arts sector. What do you think this means? 

-Management skills are with us when we are born. I think “management” is expressed when a person completes his or her tasks based on managing their time. But even so, I don’t think we have perfected it and taken it to an academic level. Every career requires different management skills. The nature of Mongolian people tends to be very adaptive. Mongolian people love classical arts, and will continue to loving. There is a flaw in the saying, “it is good to have a large audience one night but bad to then have a small audience. “ As a manager for 10 years, I would like to say that if the number in the audience reduces, we would then improve and change our creativity according to the needs. I think that it is important to teach our younger generation about the classical arts. My management is trying to not commercialize it too much, it is more important to have a number of very memorable performances which can draw a solid core audience that keeps coming back. 

-People seem more interested in comedy acts instead of the opera or ballet. How do you manage the situation to compete with that? 

-Since its inception our theatre has supported both innovation and knowledge through its management. I accept every genre of art. Since classical arts, national arts and modern art has been changing every day, we cannot compare them with each other. Since a nation’s development can be measured by its classical arts progress, it is wrong to make comparisons. The arts tend to develop naturally. 

-It seems that recently world-famous pieces are now being performed in the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet [editor’s note: a dance troupe from Australian recently performed in Ulaanbaatar and Bolshoi Ballet is rumored to tour the city in November]. How do you manage these foreign relations? 

-The value of a theatre accompanied by music separates itself from the rest. In the world of music, translation is not necessary. Classical arts are often viewed as a symbol of globalization. Thus, besides internal matters, foreign affairs also have high priority. Foreign relations are one of the biggest parts of our creativity. 

-Some people are saying that certain Mongolian classical works of art are not being performed. What do you have to say about this? 

-It is important to view any type of criticism from two sides. Eight years ago our theatre began planning our performance programs by 12 months. We also have many Mongolian classic performances besides the famous foreign classics. Yet it is unfortunate that writers and authors of ballet and drama are very rare nowadays. You can pretty much say that they are nonexistent. 

-People say that the classical works of art are for intellectuals. Who would you say are the viewers and audience of classic arts today? 

-Not everyone is meant to understand classical art. Artists work hard to get people understand what they do. You do not need to burden yourself to understand classical art. Just enjoy it and leave it there. Historically, the wealthy solely supported and developed this type of art, but now it has been in demand for intellectuals too. 

-Can you tell us some of the best names in the classical arts today? 

-There are many people. In our theatre, there are over 270 artists working. Since they are the family that will lead Mongolian art into the future, every one of them, including their associates, is very important. So I would say that every one of them is crucial to the furthering of Mongolian arts.

-Is Mongolian art recognized, or rather performed in foreign countries?

-A theatre tends to be valued for its creativity and for how many foreign and international theatres they have performed in. We can say that Mongolia has already reached the peak that is considered acceptable worldwide. All we have left is the improvement of our creativity. At the end of this month our State-Honored Actor, E. Amartuvshin, will perform in Italy as a lead. Soon, we will have 15 principal ballet dancers from the Bolshoi perform in our theatre. We will also have 150 of our ballet dancers perform in the new Grand theatre recently opened in China. This achievement has wordlessly expressed the level of classical arts that Mongolia is currently at. 

-Mongolians say that work is like a second home. How much care do you dedicate to the working environment of your employees? 

-A housewife always keeps her home comfortable and warm. So in that sense, there are many things to be done. The theatre is being repaired and renovated little by little. We still need a lot of time. 

-We now have a new Minister who oversees the arts scene in society. Have you made any requests regarding the lives of theatre employees? 

-The theatre and five other associated organizations have united in their requests and sent them to the Minister. The Classic Arts Program run by the Government was approved with the State budget. The State is supporting many of the projects that we have. We have several construction projects within the theatre, which are slowly progressing during the day. 

-A theatre requires many miscellaneous needs to function, like facial makeup, decorations and clothing. Is Mongolia keeping up with today’s standards in that regard? 

-The arts in theatres are developing on their own, naturally. We are in line and marching together with all the other arts of the world. I am working hard towards that. 

-In any sector, it is important to prepare the younger generation. In the arts, is it necessary to travel to foreign countries to study? 

-In the arts, one needs true skills in order to be successful. But stars can’t simply be created. Thus a skillful and talented performer must further nurture and develop that talent. Lately through the Government -supported Classic Arts Program, we have been granted the opportunity to learn and expand our knowledge in foreign countries. However our young generation has the difficulty of the language barrier. It is time to acknowledge that no matter how talented and skilled you are the world is now requiring you to have better knowledge in languages. 

-It is said that in order to watch an international classical arts performance, one should prepare a year in advance— like buying the ticket one year beforehand—and also that the audience should pay close attention to what they wear. How is Mongolia’s culture progressing in terms of the audience? 

-This depends on a lot of factors. This is a public thing, as one theatre or organization does not determine this. There is no such thing as audience with bad manners, nor can it be said there are bad artists with no creativity. Family, work, friends and factors like that affects people. If the viewer and the performer can somehow unite with each other on a certain level during a performance, then it could be called a very good performance. The main objective of my management is towards facilitating this. 

-Please tell us about the future plans of your theatre. We recently received a German music conductor, and we have American and English composers and music composers planned in the future. 

-This year we made contracts in partnership with musicians from China, Italy, France, Russia and America. This is the 50th season of our theatre and we will celebrate it next year in May.

SOURCE OF THIS ARTICLE : UB Post