Stepanida Borisova

Toyuk belongs to the olonkho, the epic of the Sakha, and to a way of singing whose roots lie in Sakha shamanism. She carries that tradition as a singer and an actress rather than as a ritual practitioner, and it is on a stage that she does it: the singing came into her work through the theatre, among them a production of Brecht.

She has also sung with the rock group Cholbon and played Hoelun, the mother of Genghis Khan, in the film The Secret of Genghis Khan in 2009. Since 2011 she has led the acting studio of the Olonkho Theatre. She is a People's Artist of the Republic of Sakha and of the Russian Federation.