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Published: June 28th 2010
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Beginning the wind down of my stay in Russia. I am getting excited for backpacking through the other cities in Europe that I have lined up, but I will be very sad to leave Moscow.
Wednesday was a pretty good day. We had ballet and we got to do some lifts with the girls which were pretty fun. In our acting class we did concentration exercises right out of An Actor's Work by Stanislavski. Each person is assigned a letter of an alphabet then we say a phrase and when our letter shows up in the phrase we clap, so it should sound like a typewriter. It was fun. That evening we went to see The Seagull at the MXAT. Boy, what an experience. There is such legacy behind that show since it was the very first show the MXAT ever did, and it was great being there to see it. Apparently this production has been running for over 30 years, and had gotten a little dusty and dull, so they recast it, and spiced it up a bit, still using the same set of course, and it was really spectacular. Not only that but my seat was fantastic as
I got to sit in the Director's box.
Thursday morning was film history which again was great as always. The film we watched was so good, it was called The Wedding, and was just really sweet and interesting. That night we went to see a dramatic dance performance at the Meyerhold Center. It was entitled Poor Lisa, and the lead male dancer for the Bolshoi was in it with another woman who was an actor by profession but really danced beautifully which was pretty amazing. I only felt that about half the story they were trying to tell was communicated in the choreography but that certainly didn't take away from the sheer talent or beauty of what I was watching. I am really glad that I went.
Friday was our last ballet class with Larisa so I went with another student early in the morning before class to get her some flowers. It is tradition to show appreciation for instruction with a gift of some sort. It was fun haggling with the flower vendors over the price they wanted. After we finished working on the Russian dance we started a Spanish dance which I thought was weird to
start something new on the last day, then we found out she didn't know it was the last day. We found out we weren't having acting so we went to the Meyerhold Museum which was pretty amazing. Then we found out we would have acting, so we went, but didn't do our Etude. We played the game where a person freezes in a position then some one comes in and interacts with them creating a scene with text then freeze and someone else comes in. It was fun.
That night was really amazing. One of the other students had some arrangement to meet with a local Moscow resident that spoke English and go out and experience the city. So three of us met up with her and find out she had 4 Argentinean guys in town that are coming as well, plus she was meeting a friend from Paris and Hungary. It turned out to be a very international evening. She took us to this communal apartment restaurant that was just simply amazing. It was decorated with a 1930's motif and then just thrown in some tables to eat at. There was a house cat that wandered about that
was really friendly and a canary in the window. It was like going to grandma's house for dinner but cooler. The bathroom was really cool and that is where the cat lived, they had cut a tiny hole in the bottom of the door with a lace curtain for the cat to get in and out. I didn't take many pictures because I shot a video, but it was such a chill relaxed and fun evening. Most of the group left and then our host, Olga and her Hungarian friend took us over to Patriarch Pond where there were lots of cool statues. It was just a super fun evening.
Saturday was our final movement class with Vladimir. It was so great to realize the progress I have personally made in the month being here. I was able to the bridge which I couldn't do in the beginning, then I pulled off a shoulder stand which was such a great feeling. I skipped singing because we only were going to be having our second and final class and it didn't seem like it would help me all that much, considering the first class was really just an evaluation of
my voice, and then she could spend more time with those that really can sing. Our acting class was our one and only class with Igor which was really fun. He is this huge guy that is very famous in Russia and he was so genuine and fun and the class was really a blast. We had lots of Etudes for everyone to finish so we didn't get to do any concentration work but it was fun chatting with him about his process and experience working on the show Ivanov that we saw earlier in the month.
Afterwards, Alli, Pegi, and I went to VDNK which is this huge park that was put together back in the 30's for a World's Fair. It was so fun, we rode on the huge Ferris wheel, walked around and then found this little secluded pond that had a little island on it with a gazebo and park bench where we sat and watched some locals fishing. The fish were insane and jumping in the water like crazy. These two fishermen were pulling a ton of fish out the whole time we were there. Apparently there was place nearby that would cook the
fish that you caught there and bring it over to you. At one point a couple of singers came a long and started playing by the fisherman. It was just a fun evening and very relaxing. We left and saw some more sights, it was getting dark but I found a silly looking monument or sculpture that I climbed for a cool picture.
Sunday, or today, was a very full day. We left at 10 am to go to Novodevichy Convent where there is a huge cemetery that has lots of dignitaries buried there including Stanislavski, and Anton Chekhov. The place was really beautiful and I had fun taking pictures there. Russians certainly have a very different attitude about their dead. Afterwards we took the boat tour on the Moscow River that had been postponed. That was very chill and relaxing, although it was blazing hot. Myself, Jared, Alli, and Pegi broke off from the rest of the group because we didn't want to go back to the dorm or head to the flea market with the others. We stopped and bought some cherries then I suggested we go back and explore Kuzminki Park that I had found last
week and we agreed and were off. What a great time. I had no real idea of the size of this place. It felt like it was two times larger than Central Park in NYC and the place was so crowded especially around the lake that was there. It was such a hot day that crowds of people were gathered and having good time. We laid out and just enjoyed the area and the sun and shade, and I think I napped for a bit on the grass. We found this bridge where people had put all these locks on the metal part. It is this Russian tradition to seal their love with a padlock that will hopefully be there as long as their love is. I have seen them on a few other bridges around Moscow but never in this quantity. We hurried home for the weekly potluck dinner only to find out that it had been postponed until Monday. I was pretty beat, so I just crashed. Only a couple of more days and I will be off onto the second leg of my journey.
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Heather
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I really enjoyed your Moscow post and photos! I've always wanted to go there but haven't been yet. It looks amazing and sounds like you've had an incredible experience there! My blog is looking for travel photos, reviews, unique foods, etc, to share. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email me at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com. Continued fun on your travels, and enjoy your backpacking around the other countries! Heather :)