NSLI-Y Moscow Summer 2013: WEEK TWO (July 21-27, 2013)

My second week in Moscow was filled with ups and downs. There wasn’t always reliable internet for communication or hot water for showers. Sometimes we didn’t have any water at all due to conservation of resources at the academy. Still, it was a very interesting week and I began to improve my Russian language skills considerably!

Every morning I loved waking up to the view outside my windows. The academy is situated in a quiet enclave with lots of trees outside the studio and dormitory windows. When the morning light seeped in through the leaves, it was stunning! The branches had become home to many small birds flitting about and everything felt very alive. 

The second week continued with intensive ballet, character, gymnastics and repertoire classes. We had a new teacher for our ballet classes who I really liked. Her name was Julia Shoshina, and she helped me an incredible amount with my placement at barre. In character class we worked on the Mazurka from Paquita, and I actually was able to demonstrate some of the steps with my teacher! My flexibility improved greatly with the help of my teachers who would literally stand on me to put my body into correct (and sometimes painful!) positions.  

After class one evening, we gathered at a café on the historic Arbat street to meet a journalist, Pavel Koshkin, from “Russia Beyond the Headlines” a web based Russian news site. After some thoughtful discussion with Pavel about our experience at the Bolshoi and what it was like to be American ambassadors in Russia, we walked back to the academy and were able to purchase some Matryoshki (Russian nesting dolls) from a local street vendor along the way. In the following weeks we met with Pavel and a crew from Russia Beyond the Headlines in Gorky Park and outside of the academy to film a video, which you can view here: http://rbth.ru/multimedia/video/2013/08/15/american_students_plunge_into_russian_ballet_28947.html. Going into the filming in Gorky Park we had no idea what to expect, and ended up having to choreograph movements on the spot! It was challenging, but fun. 

On Thursday we attended the Stanislavsky Opera, where we watched Evegeni Onegin, based on the novel-in‐verse by Alexander Pushkin, with music written by Pyotr Tchaikovsky – both beloved Russian figures in their respective fields. I really enjoyed the beautiful music and atmosphere of the world-famous opera house. It was incredible! Even though I wouldn't call myself an opera fan, I was still able to enjoy and appreciate what a beautiful and complicated art it is. What the singers did with their voices was truly amazing, and I have so much respect for artists of the opera!

While visiting my host family, we took a cruise on the Moscow River. It was a rainy, overcast day, and we sat sipping tea out of paper cups that had illustrations of Pushkin and his beautiful wife, Natalia. We dipped some of my favorite Russian chocolate, Алëнка, into our tea and then savored its warmth and sweetness. We gazed upon the Kremlin and the Church of Jesus Christ The Savior through the rain and it was so relaxing, I felt like I could have been in a dream! 

My week unfortunately ended on a very sad note when I received news of my good friend’s dog dying from cancer. I had known “Sammy” for my entire life, and the world will never be the same without him.