The Madeni Qazyna Qory Cultural Heritage Foundation is launching the Altyn Mura project, an initiative to document the Kazakh dance heritage that lives within people and is passed down from generation to generation.

The project will use motion capture technology and artificial intelligence tools to capture traditional movement as digital data.

Traditional Kazakh dance is a history and worldview encoded in the body. It lives in those who have observed the masters for years and adopted this movement into their own bodies. A standard camera captures an image, but not the biomechanics. Motion capture records rhythm, movement, and the smallest nuances of performance as digital data that can be studied, reproduced, and passed on to future generations.

Over the course of a year, the project team, along with scientists and choreographers, will travel across Kazakhstan and neighboring territories to find bearers of authentic traditions, record their movement, and hear their stories. The collected materials, processed using AI, will be included in an open digital archive of Kazakh dance, which the team plans to integrate into a national platform.

As a result of the project, the team will also release digital archival materials from motion capture filming, a documentary about dance traditions and the people who preserve them, an educational e-book in Kazakh, Russian, and English, master classes for choreographers, and exhibition installations.

The Altyn Mura project is supported by the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and launches in the year of the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.