Chilisema (Erzya: — dawn, sunrise) — a women's folk choir from the Erzya selo of Pikshen, Nizhny Novgorod Region. It performs songs in Erzya and Russian, with a focus on ritual, patriotic, and ceremonial repertoire.

Not to be confused with "Chilisema" from the selo of Bagana, Shentalinsky District, Samara Region.

The ensemble

The ensemble was founded and is led by Lyubov Petrovna Doronina, librarian of the Pikshen rural library. "Chilisema" is a regular participant in district, regional, all-Russian, and international folk arts festivals.[1]

On stage, the ensemble does not perform concert pieces but rather a fragment of an ancient Erzya ritual, and the program changes with the seasons. This performance is part of the "Welcoming Guests the Erzya Way" program, through which tourists visiting Pushkin's Boldino are brought to Pikshen: guests are taken to the village Museum of Mordva Culture and Daily Life, and after the ritual are treated to Erzya dishes — chapamo lovso, kulaga, valnoz syulot, and salmat.[1]

The ensemble was formed in 1997, when local village women established it on the basis of the Pikshen folk choir; the name translates as "sunrise."[2] The core repertoire consists of ancient Erzya songs, supplemented by works by Mordva composers. The ceremonial cycle follows the yearly calendar: a prayer to Norov-ava, patroness of the fields and harvest; homage to Vir-ava, mistress of the forest; an Erzya wedding; and a greeting of summer.[3]

By August 2009 the ensemble had already become a laureate of the Governor's prize "Soul of Russia," and at the Erzya Language Day celebration in Pikshen it performed the ritual "Inechi."[4] The title of "People's Ensemble" was conferred on it based on the results of 2012 — the head of Bolsheboldinsky District announced this in his annual report for that year.[5]

Performances

On 28 August 2008, "Chilisema" performed at a Concert of Peoples' Friendship in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, organized by the Hungarian Szabó József. The women's ensemble from Pikshen presented traditional Erzya rituals — invocations to the "holders" and to Chipaz — and sang Erzya songs; this performance became the defining highlight of the program.[6]

The ensemble also travels to interregional Erzya festivals: in 2013 it was among the participants in the folk prayers of "Rasken Ozks" in the selo of Chukaly, Bolsheignatovsky District, Mordovia.[7]

The ensemble travels both to interregional Erzya festivals and to regional ones. In June 2013, "Chilesema," together with the district ensemble "Maryushka," represented the Bolsheboldinsky District at the Pushkin Poetry Festival, which drew twenty-four ensembles from Nizhny Novgorod Region, Mordovia, Chuvashia, Mari El, and Kostroma Region.[8]

In May 2014, the ensemble received a special prize at the All-Russian Event Tourism Fair in Moscow.[9] In July 2015, a film crew from the program "Russia, My Love" on the Rossiya Kultura television channel visited Pikshen to film a program about the history and traditions of the Mordva of Nizhny Novgorod Region; the ensemble greeted the guests with bread and salt and performed the ritual of honoring Vir-ava.[10]

On March 18, 2016, "Chilesema" performed at the Chuvash State Philharmonic Hall during an all-Russian folk arts forum and was recognized with a diploma from the Russian Ministry of Culture at the closing ceremony.[11]

See also

Sources

  1. nnov.ngounb.ru — Vidyaeva M. V. "Reviving, We Preserve": The Work of Libraries in Bolsheboldinsky District in Preserving and Developing the Traditions of the Erzya People // The Library in a Multicultural Society… (archive)
  2. Nizhny Novgorod News — Under the Canopy of the Patriarch Oak: The Village of Pikshen, the Chilisema Ensemble, and the Museum of Mordvin Culture and Everyday Life, October 24, 2019 (archive)
  3. ok.ru — The Boldino Land — History of the Village of Pikshen, Part 3: From the Archive of the Pikshen Village House of Culture
  4. erza.ucoz.ru — Pekshnya velen lopa — Website of the Village of Pikshen — Erzya Language Day in Pikshen, August 2, 2009 (archive)
  5. bold-vest.ru — Boldino Herald — Report of A. V. Marakov, Head of the Administration of Bolsheboldinsky District, on the Work of 2012, April 9, 2013 (archive)
  6. web.archive.org — Erzyan ki (archive)
  7. ngounb.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Regional V. I. Lenin Library — Bolsheboldinsky District: Local Studies Bibliography: Lyubaev V. "Raskeny Ozks (archive)
  8. bold-vest.ru — Boldino Herald — "Russia Found Itself in Him…": The 47th Pushkin Poetry Festival, June 7, 2013 (archive)
  9. bold-vest.ru — Boldino Herald — Pushkin's Boldino Invites You, June 1, 2014 (archive)
  10. bold-vest.ru — Boldino Herald — Filming of the TV Program "Russia, My Love" for the Russia–Culture Channel in Pikshen, July 27, 2015 (archive)
  11. bold-vest.ru — Boldino Herald — The Region Was Represented with Dignity at the All-Russian Forum, March 25, 2016 (archive)