Song and dance Ensemble "Donbass"

The Honored State Academic Song and Dance Ensemble "Donbass" is a business card of the Donetsk People's Republic. The collective, originally called the "Miners' Song and Dance Ensemble", was created in 1937 in the city of Stalino (present-day Donetsk). The founder of the ensemble, who for many years held the posts of musical and artistic director in it, is the composer Zinovy Osipovich Dunaevsky.

During the Great Patriotic War, the ensemble in the format of a concert brigade gave a total of about a thousand front-line concerts and for active concert activity, the entire composition was awarded medals "For the Defense of the Caucasus" and "For Valiant Labor during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945".

In the post-war years, the collective performed in front of workers who restored the industry of Donbass and the whole country. The band has successfully toured in all the republics of the Soviet Union and beyond, performed not only in concert halls of the country, including the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions and the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, but also at closed facilities – defense enterprises, military sea and land bases, the Baikonur cosmodrome, in the Chernobyl disaster elimination zone. "Donbass" has performed concerts in many foreign countries, including Belgium, France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Canada, Syria and many other countries of the world, has become a laureate of international festivals in the USA, Brazil, North Korea, Spain and China.

For outstanding achievements in the development of national culture, the Donbass ensemble was awarded the honorary title "Honored" in 1966. In 2006, the collective received the status of an academic ensemble. "Donbass" is the only creative team awarded the Honorary badge "Miner's Glory" of the first degree.

Today, the Donbass Ensemble, which celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2022, is one of the most sought-after collectives demonstrating the highest mastery of folk dance and song. At the moment, performances of "Donbass" have taken place in more than 50 regions of Russia - as part of both the collective's tours and the participation of "Donbass" in numerous folk art festivals In 2022, the ensemble has carried out two large–scale tours within the framework of the federal program "We are Russia" on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and with the support of The federal cultural institution "Rosconcert", having given almost 60 concerts from Rostov-on-Don to Krasnoyarsk. The anniversary concerts of "Donbass" took place on the stages of the metropolitan Hall of the Church Cathedrals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Cultural Center "House of Cosmonauts" in Star City. . The cultural project "We are Together" is enjoying great success, within the framework of which the Donbass ensemble performs on the same stage with leading Russian collectives. Also, for the second year in a row, the team takes part in the All-Russian festival "Dance and Sing, my Russia!" on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace.

The collective of the Donbass Ensemble has been awarded numerous commendations and certificates of honor for strengthening interethnic relations and cultural interaction. In addition, a huge number of enthusiastic reviews from viewers from different parts of Russia are addressed to Donbass, looking forward to new meetings with a bright team.