Only “old men” are going into battle

18.05.2016

Nuckids is a truly unique project. For 40 days, kids from various Russian cities and different countries come together to put on a professional musical under the guidance of experienced teachers who know a lot about this difficult genre. However, the goal of the project is not just to create and show a musical. It is to make friends between the children of the employees of nuclear enterprises. The project has been running for 8 years, and a new, 8th season will start very soon. New participants will have daily work and rehearsals. And where are those kids who were shining on the project back in the days? What is happening in their lives now?

Anastasia Lyamtseva. Kurchatov. Participant of the project in 2011, 2012. Currently she is a student of the Kutafin Moscow State Law University, specializing in Legal Support of National Security.

 – The last time I was on the project as a participant was in the winter of 2013. It was a wonderful performance. I had the most vivid impressions. I had the role of a mom-ballerina. Lev Suslov and I shot a video at the studio. It was the first time when cinema and theater were so organically intertwined in our musical. I not only managed to work on stage, but also to star in a professional movie, a small one, but still. Everything was very exciting and quite cool. Vladimir Karabanov spent a lot of time with us.

This was my first time working with him. Like all the directors before him, he was great at what he was doing. We also danced a lot with Maxim Nedolechko, our constant choreographer. It was a pleasure to work with him again. I probably like him a little bit more than other teachers do. It was awesome. In general, for me, Winter Tale 2013 is another bright moment in the memory collection of the best place in the world – Nuckids!

 – Did the project influence your career choice?

 – The project has perhaps helped me to develop a sense of sociability. This is because the project has a large number of children and adults, each individual and talented in their own way. On top of that, the time frame of the project is so tight that you not only have to make friends with everyone, but also to grow love to each other in order to make a huge production – a musical.

 – Have you lost touch with the project?

 – I am staying in touch with the project, always helping out, when needed. I try to come to the new play premiere, to meet new participants. It is great when several generations of project participants meet together to share impressions and experience. In general, the project has given me a second family like you, my friends, whom we have been together with for 5 years.

Dmitry Simonov. Volgodonsk. Participant of the project in 2009, 2010. Currently he is a student of Russian Institute of Theatre Arts GITIS, production department, his major is “Dramatic theater and cinema actor”.

 – Last time I was on the project as a child in 2011. Our entire crowd, all of my friends, all of this appeared in 2011. I remember how Vitya Zakalyapin and I dreamed in the winter of 2011th that it would be cool to live together in one city. Moreover, we could not even imagine that it would be possible. Now we literally live in the same apartment, chatting and enjoying each other’s company.

 – Has the project influenced your choice of future profession? I realize that in your case the question is rather rhetorical, but still.

 – The project did not just influence, but determined my future profession. I remember when we came to the project in 2010, there was such a director – Elena Saleikova. Only because of her, I am studying now at the Institute of Theater, because she told me at the time that I should try to be an actor, because I have all the necessary skills for it. Only thanks to Elena, I realized that I really could do it. This is the story. If I had not got into the project, I would have been a programmer now, some kind of programmer, I guess.

 – Have you lost touch with the project?

 – No, of course not. In 2014, Sergei Novikov decided to realize a new idea. He offered the old participants to take part in the project in a new role: some as counselors, and me and Sasha Nikolayev as teachers. Moreover, we took the initiative. We were curious about what we could teach the new kids.

 – Tell me, what is the project for you?

 – In my opinion, the essence of this project is that everyone is working together to make the musical come true on a voluntary basis, this means meeting deadlines and cooperating with each other. It is like in the Soviet Union: Let us get together and build a tunnel through a mountain! Yes, of course, let us do it! And they go and build it, just like that. And in a couple of months they finish the construction, which normally takes a year. All this becomes possible because people enjoy working in the team to achieve the result! It is the same thing on this project. That’s why there is such a friendship and a reverent attitude to each other. At the same time, everyone is treated equally on the project. Moreover, it does not matter who you are: Maxim Nedolechko, a counselor, or a kid. After all, we are one team, doing one thing. The project lasts for forty days only. During this period, you open up to the participants in a way that you would have never done back home. The pace is very fast and many events take place. However, the most important that we met with my friends on this project. In addition, it is not that we are some sort of classmates or groupmates. Not at all. We just came together like some kind of cool party. As like we have already lived another life. Now we’re living a new long one, but we still have a thrill for what came before. It is not that we only talk about the project. It is just that it is hard for us without each other. Now I want to do my work on the project to make sure that young, new participants have a chance to make the same real friends.

Vladislav Tashbulatov. Snezhinsk. Participant of the project in 2011, 2012, 2013. Currently he is a student of Russian Institute of Theatre Arts GITIS, production department, his major is “Dramatic theater and cinema actor”.

 – I was last on the project in the winter of 2013. During that last session for me, it felt like my childhood was over with the project. That it was already an adult life. Entering university, moving to another city, living on my own. But at the same time, it was the project after which my goals in life were finally formed. It was a very important stage of my life.

 – Has the project influenced your choice of future profession?

 – Well, what a question! Definitely yes! The project came into my life in 2011, and then the life has split into before and after. That is because I started to learn things about myself I did not even know before. I realized that I could communicate normally with my peers. I felt what the professional stage was like. (Laughing. “Here it comes, the pathos of acting!”). It was the first time I felt the impact of a big stage, a single common idea that unites you and the people around you. This feeling made me go to the theater school, hoping that this perception indeed is about the real theater.

 – Have you lost touch with the project?

 – How on earth is it possible to lose that connection? I get all the news about the project from Dima Simonov, who has been taking part in the project as a stage teacher for three years by now, and, of course, from all of you, my friends. And some kind of interest is immediately awakened to what is happening on the project at this stage. It is a different time, different children, different priorities. However, one thing that remains the same in Nuckids is that the performances raise very deep, urgent and interesting topics, most important for the kids themselves. Children see much more than adults do. Their point of view is the most honest and sincere. Children who come to this project acquire a different perception of the world. A different view of life. Children on the project are the most open and honest.

 – And finally, what is the project for you?

 – You kind of live a small life on the project. And it’s a very important and significant life experience, which, in a way, toughens you up. It really teaches you something. It taught me independence for example. All the relationships that appear on the project grow, cultivate and help throughout life. In addition, the friendship with the kids that appears on the project is never lost. You can turn to any of the former participants, and they will definitely help you in a difficult moment. Because there is something inexplicable between people on the project, some magic connection.

As you can see, the Nuckids project works two hundred percent. That friendship, which appears between the children from the very first day of being on the project, stays with them for many, many years. Very soon, you, dear participants of the project Nuckids 2016, will be convinced of this. After all, there is not much time left until the project start.

The author of the article is Lev Suslov, a participant in the 2010, 2011, 2012 project