When I talk about a round date, Ivan Nazibovich retorts: “For a creative person, the flowering of professional wisdom.” The energy in him is in full swing. Having worked with children for many years, he does not feel the age at all.
– All this talk about age – from the desire to relax and do nothing. And we in the theater do not have time to take a breath. Children unrealistically recharge us and do not let us relax.
– What were your hobbies as a child? – He built an impromptu stage out of chairs and a stretched sheet and gave performances “in faces” … At the age of 4 he already read well, so the performances were interesting. He published a weekly home magazine. Was fond of collecting. And now I continue to collect stamps, old books, antique publications, car models.
– Your dad, Nazib Zhiganov, was an outstanding composer, for 43 years he headed the Kazan Conservatory, which now bears his name. Did you play the piano as a child?
To the surprise of all my friends, I was not taught music. Dad believed that his children should go their own way … But poetry – yes, he wrote. My high school friend and I wrote comics that the whole school read – he drew, and I wrote poetry.
– You graduated from the Faculty of Biology of Kazan University, studied genetics. Why did you suddenly go to study at GITIS?
– Passion for genetics was serious, but romantic. At that time, we all dreamed of transforming the world, making it a better place. But, having got into the world of science, having defended my dissertation, I felt like a stranger in it. I lacked publicity, I was burdened by the narrowness of the circle of people who were interested in the subject of my research. And in the early 90s, I pulled out my lucky lottery ticket – I met the wonderful Russian composer and teacher Olga Yudakhina. She brought me back to the world of my youth – I grew up among musicians, writers, poets, directors and theatergoers … My grandfather, Ilya Shkapa, was a writer, researcher of the work of Sholokhov and Gorky. They worked with Maxim Gorky for 7 years in the magazine “Our Achievements” (since 1930 – “USSR at a Construction Site”). My grandfather was the editorial manager. And I returned to the bosom of art. Received a diploma of director-producer of mass events. Such a vinaigrette turned out – biologist-poet-director.
– How did it happen that the children’s theater “Domisolka” became your brainchild?
– When we met Olga Yudakhina, she had already created her own small theater, it was then called the Children’s Song Theater Domisol and Co. Well, I’m a maximalist by nature… Therefore, we raised the bar – and into the sky! As in the fairy tale about Pinocchio – to open the door behind the painted hearth, and behind it – the theater! Which haven’t happened yet. In itself, our project is unique in terms of organization, scope, and success in implementation. He has no equal either in Moscow or in Russia, and even more so in the world. That’s why we call ourselves “the most children’s musical theater in the world “Domisolka”. We communicate a lot and easily with our partners and friends from the highest spheres of the musical and theatrical life of the country, they support us, we do a lot together. This is interesting for Olga and me as theater directors, and for our children and their parents. Simply the best, that’s all.
— Tell us about the little artists.
– They are not all small … We have 750 of them – from 4 to 16-17 years old … At the age of 14 they already have passports. And even grown-up our graduates for us all the same remain children. And the artists are amazing. They undergo a strict casting upon admission, then they are selected and selected by the practice of stage life. Not everyone can stand it, first of all, parents give slack, some of them are not ready to recognize the right of children to a serious matter. Someone wants an immediate result, someone runs away to commercial groups in the hope that they can buy their child a place on stage. Those who pass all these reefs grow up with us into successful guys with all the signs of mature leaders. Our graduates are all successful.
Which of them are you especially proud of?
– Since we are not raising children from “stars”, but good people who can do a lot of things, we are proud of everyone. Professionally – Polina Gagarina, Ksenia Surkova, Anya Grot, Sasha Dorokhov, Nastya Belyavskaya, Alisa Danelia … From the most recent ones – Masha Shumilova, Lisa Kurchenko, Slava Kvasov. They play in theaters, sing in musicals, direct, act in films.
— What implemented projects are the most significant for you?
– The Domisolka creative and educational project itself is unique, it is a comprehensive 12-year educational program with basic disciplines – vocals, choreography, acting, solfeggio… And also these are instruments – piano, trumpet, guitar, saxophone, drums… And also fine arts, television editing, photography… And much more. Of the major creative projects, I would like to mention our most powerful competition-festivals “Blues without borders”, “Folk without borders”, “Theater of the Word”. Well, and the fantastic project “Musical TOGETHER”, which was a little bit grafted into a pandemic, but now “comes to life”. It was implemented in the largest children’s centers in the world – “Artek”, “Orlyonok” and “Ocean”. The result is grandiose performances on real stages, with scenery, video screens, light, sound and other bells and whistles, in which 150–200 child artists take part, each with 2–4 thousand spectators. There are original and music, and the script, and lyrics … Magic, in short.
– Your team represented Russia at the Olympics in Vancouver, London, Sochi. How were you received?
— Yes, we are always greeted with a bang. And in Whistler, where the children of Domisolka received the torch of the future Sochi Olympics from the hands of Canadian peers (the torch is now in the theater museum). And in London, where stiff Englishmen gave us a standing ovation. And on Abbey Road, and in Hyde Park, and, of course, in Sochi.
I remember that in 2011 we were awarded a certificate of ambassadors for the Games in Sochi. It was on the square in front of the Winter Theater in Sochi. Children sang a double track in an open area in front of 150,000 spectators, and the player went off at the sound engineer. Our children did not move their eyes, a’capella sang the anthem of the Olympics to the enthusiastic roar of the audience. And when the applause subsided, Dima Guberniev, who hosted the show, told the audience: “Well? Liked? These guys sing live, not like…!” And here he named the name of our very popular soloist, whose name I will not name for ethical reasons. After his words, we were applauded for another five minutes …
– The guys voice cartoons, are busy in the capital’s theaters. How many become professional artists?
– Approximately 15-20 percent follow the musical and theatrical path in life. With today’s attitude of parents to the future of their children (everyone wants to see their children as top managers or chairmen of bar associations), this is a very good percentage. Our graduates are known in Moscow theaters and institutes, so when they come to enter theater universities, their chances of not entering are minimal. Some are accepted immediately after the interview, without exams.
– Are you facing problems?
There are problems, but they are all solvable. We educate and educate parents, we cope with unscrupulous competitors from commercial children’s groups. Sometimes it gets ridiculous. They sometimes flirt with “star children”, promote them, and when you need to make a serious project quickly and efficiently, it turns out that there are no resources for this, paid PR does not sing and dance by itself … And “Domisolka” is right there. Our children can do everything.
But I will still voice one problem. We don’t have our own concert hall. I really hope that the Department of Education and Science of Moscow, to which we belong, the government of Moscow, which always supports us (we recently received an excellent second five-story educational building), will hear our prayers. These are difficult times, but Domisolka generally began in the dashing 90s, then times were not easier … A theater without its own hall is like a car without wheels.
How will you celebrate your anniversary?
— At work, in Luzhniki. March 18 is a big day in the history of Russia. In 2014, the “Crimean Spring” began. And since those times, “Domisolka” has been participating in a grandiose patriotic show, which takes place on March 18 in the capital. I do not like feasts, doxology – too.
– In 2005, you were awarded the Order “For Service to Art”, in 2007 – the Order of Lomonosov. But, looking at Wikipedia, we did not find any honorary titles or awards in you. Why so?
– This question is not for me. We never ran for awards. Remember Bulgakov: “Never ask for anything! Never and nothing, and especially for those who are stronger than you. They themselves will offer and give everything themselves! So they don’t deserve it. True, there is one more quote from Nekrasov: “It’s a pity – you won’t have to live in this beautiful time – neither me nor you.”
– Think about the most unusual gifts that you were given.
– Unusual gifts are usually given to me by Sasha Oleshko – we are close friends with him. He is a collector himself. Therefore, his gifts are rare and collectible. It can be a cast-iron bust of Gagarin from 1961, or a 40-cm porcelain figurine of a Soviet pioneer… But the most important gift for me is the day of March 18 itself. Many significant events took place on this day.
– What are you dreaming about?
– I dream that our tenth solo concert will finally take place in the State Kremlin Palace. For various reasons, we postponed it four times … Now it’s on our plans for the fall of 2022. I dream of touring, in the last two years, due to the pandemic, we have not traveled at all. I dream of giving solo concerts in my homeland in Kazan and in Olga Yudakhina’s homeland in Bishkek… I dream of new poems and musicals. I really want all my friends, relatives and acquaintances to be healthy and live under a peaceful sky.