One Day More

I want to post... I really do... but I have to be up in three hours.  So...

Я люблю тебя, Москва. Пока мы встретимся снова.

6/29 - 18083 Steps 5.71 Miles
6/30 - 15846 Steps 5 Miles

The End---ish

Today was our final movement class, which is always one of the toughest goodbyes, because Vladimir is made out of magic and sunshine, and the things that we are able to do when we are with him are just plain crazy!  Then we had acting evaluations with Ilja, which was very cool.  It was the first year that I sat in and heard all of them, which was a really wonderful experience.  The teachers here don't just talk to hear themselves talk (I mean, I'm sure some do... but ours don't).  They have only had a month with these kids, and yet they have such wonderful, constructive insights into the work that they've done and the challenges that they can set for themselves to keep momentum moving forward.  I have to say, I was so proud listening to him talk to these kids - many of whom were my students when they were wee baby freshmen, and all of whom I love dearly.  They worked their butts off this month, they learned, they grew... and they're gonna keep going.

Then... well... that was that.  There were many pictures taken, and then I had a quiet early evening to myself before heading out with the group and our wonderful administrator Katya for a couple drinks and some World Cup (I watched only about the last 5 minutes of the game, but Brazil vs. Chile was pretty intense).  It was really a very fun evening, followed up with an awesome (albeit sort of choppy) skype date with my mom before I melted into bed... which is what I am going to do about five minutes after I post this.

10651 Steps
3.36 Miles

More So Longs

This morning was the final stage combat class, which was a lot of fun.  It culminated in the students choreographing their own short sequence - very cool.  Then we had a brief Yoda-esque talk with Sergei before our final celebration with the teachers, the dean, our administrators, and the Butler group.  It was a lovely afternoon.

Then, we headed out to see Rhinoceros at the Fomenko Theatre - one of my personal favorites.  But I ended up having to leave at intermission, for reasons that I won't post about on the blog.  So... that was a really big bummer.  A bigger bummer that it's probably the last show of the month.  An even bigger bummer that it's probably the last show of what is probably my last month in Moscow.

So... I'm a little grouchy.

But whatcha gonna do?

Anyway... I don't have much to say, since I'm still sort of brooding.  So...

17169 Steps
5.42 Miles

Getting to the Goodbyes

This morning kicked off our first set of goodbyes.  This last week is always so hard!  We started out with our final singing class, which was a little different this year, as Marina decided that we and the Butler group should sing for each other - a little nerve-wracking, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.  They went first, and we finished things off.  And I have to say, I really think everyone did very well.  And, not to toot my own horn (but this is MY blog... so I can do what I want), the trio I've been working on ended up sounding pretty darn good!  So go us!

Next, it was time to bid farewell to ballet, which also ended up being very pleasant.  Renat took the group through everything they've done this month, and they really rocked it out.  Then... it was on to acting, where they did their 12 minute version of The Seagull for Sergei, and then did their own etudes - all of which were really awesome and creative and well thought through.  This group has done a lot of really interesting work in a very short period of time.  One thing we talked about tonight was the fact that this group has probably had more Russia based training at home than any of the groups preceding them, which has definitely shown in their ability to jump into the work here.  So good on 'em!

Then... we had a night off!  Yes!  I made a little dinner, had a couple beers, did a little work, gossiped with some students, and just had a generally low-key evening.

And now... I'm off to bed...gotta prep for more goodbyes!

Oh!  But I feel I should mention that, as of today, I have walked more than 100 miles this month!  With my 12039 Steps and 3.8 miles, I am now at 103.08 miles for the month of June (give or take whatever the margin of error is for my little pedometer).  So... woohoo!

Zoyka's Kitchen

Well, yesterday was a pretty full day, with our last theatre history lecture with the incomparable Anatoly Smeliansky, and then acting class, in which the students presented their own 12 minute version of The Seagull... that they came up with in one day.  And it was pretty good, too!  So go them!  (I ran sound... because that seems to be my main function with their performances.)  Then, we gathered for our last show at the MXAT - Зойкина Квартира (Zoyka's Apartment).  It's this crazy story from 1920s Russia (just after the Revolution) of a woman named Zoya who opens a brothel under the guise of opening a seamstress school.  It's a musical - which is a lot of fun.  And on top of that, it is an amazing technological experience.  Between this show and Master and Margarita, it's as if the directors were actively trying to showcase the capabilities of the space... but they also managed to make all these crazy technical elements actually help tell the story!  In this show, the set was a giant rotating cube... there were huge projections... amazing costumes... and the set had a full ceiling, which totally changes what lighting they can use.  I have actually seen this production once before - two years ago - and I had no idea what was going on.  I mean, it was amazing, but sort of incomprehensible.  This time... I read the play before we went to see it... which completely changed the experience.  I knew just enough of the story and the language to really get some of the jokes, which was rewarding.  And it's always easier to watch a play when there is some modicum of understanding involved.  Plus, even though our seats were added into the house left aisle, I scooted us into the center when the show started, since there were empty seats... so we had a pretty great view!  All around, a very cool evening!

Today started out with our penultimate movement class... and I kind of rocked on the shoulder stand today, if I do say so myself... and I do!  Plus, I was joined by two of my kidlets in achieving Russian Dumpling!  Then I got zillions of pictures of different acrobatic things, which is super cool.  And for acting today, one of the students was ill, so I was pulled up to participate to even out the group, which also turned out to be a lot of fun.  Then we headed back to the Satirikon for our last show with them, a strange little piece called Кухня (Kitchen).  It's basically just the story of a group of people who work in a fancy restaurant - chefs and waitresses.  Mostly it was sort of impossible to understand, because not much really happens.  But it was fascinating to watch as an exercise in super detailed acting.  The set was a huge, fully loaded kitchen with what must have been hundreds of dishes and pots and pans (oh my!).  And no matter how real it looked... they actually didn't cook anything.  Everything they did was pantomimed... to perfection.  Apparently, all the actors had gone under cover at a local restaurant, training in the kitchen.  Only the manager knew that they were actors.  So they got the experience of preparing food... and man, was it amazing to watch!  I would have sworn they had the items they were preparing.  There was a guy who kept flipping and seasoning cutlets by whom I was totally transfixed.  There was chopping and cooking and serving and all sorts of kitchen behavior... but not a single real piece of food.  The first part ended with an amazing, stylized version of the lunch rush.  And there was a great sequence when the chefs were all fantasizing about what their lives could be like.  So, though it was sort of hard to follow, it was so freaking cool to watch!

The show was only an hour and a half, so we were home at a reasonable hour for once, giving folks some time to work on things for tomorrow... because tomorrow is the beginning of the end - our first "last day" with our singing and dance teachers.  It sneaks up on us every year!

14261 Steps
4.5 Miles

Place Holder

I want to blog tonight... I really do... but I am running on fumes.  So... I'll post later.  But in the interest of keeping my mileage tally going:

11400 Steps
3.6 Miles

Little old Lady from Tverskaya

Singing at 10:00am is not always the easiest undertaking, but the group really brought it this morning.  Lots of big steps forward for people.  And lots of fun choreography.  Marina noted after our big group number ("All That Jazz, which we choreographed in about half an hour last night in someone's dorm room) that, even as talented as their students are, they tend to have a hard time with singing and dancing together.  I found the discussion very interesting, since musical theatre is always talked about as THE American theatre form.  It's interesting that there's enough of a cultural difference to make our ability to deal with its unique requirements stronger than these exemplary Russian students.  Well... I guess if we can come out on top anywhere, we should be super proud!

After singing class I had planned on running out to a theatre to pick up tickets for anyone who wanted to see a show on Thursday... but no one wanted to see it.  That made life easier for me, so I just hung out and watched dance class.  I am always fascinated by the Russian dance work when we're able to fit that in.  I would imagine that the MXAT students would school us pretty hard core on that, because man... all that stomping and hopping... it's just a little over my head.

We then had a shortened lunch break today because today is graduation for the MXAT acting students, so Sergei and Ilja had to go give their students diplomas.  But rather than cutting off our class altogether, Sergei gave the group an interesting assignment: they are to perform The Seagull tomorrow in 10-15 minutes.  So they spent the next 2 1/2 hours working on planning out how to do that.  There were some really interesting ideas thrown around.  I tried to pipe in here and there with advice or insights into the play, but I made sure to let them make it their own.  I'm very interested to see what they come up with for tomorrow!

Then, because we had no show tonight, I headed back to the dorm.  Right now, almost all of the students are out at a graduation party for the MXAT students.  I considered going, but I'm no good in social situations like that, and I'm so much older than everyone, and I don't have clothes that even approximate the level of fancy schmancy that the students pulled out for tonight... so I decided to just stay close to the homestead, do a little reading and editing, and have a nice cold beer.  I think I've earned it!

10805 Steps
3.41 Miles