Lucky Pots

Today was sort of a light day, which felt good... and will feel good in retrospect as we head into the next week... which is going to be jam packed.  We started out with our first theatre history lecture with the delightful President of the MXAT Theatre School, Anatoly Smeliansky.  Seriously... magical theatre history elf!  I love this man!  And he always does his first lecture in the portrait gallery in the lobby of the MXAT... which is just gorgeous and magnificent.  He refers to it as the Pantheon of Russian Theatre.  And as he meandered through historical anecdotes, we all hung on his every word.  (Except, unfortunately, my phone, which somehow paused itself from recording 6 seconds in... so I didn't capture the lecture.  Boo.)

After that was a quick lunch during which I popped over to the administrative office to check on tickets for the students for Swan Lake next week.  While I was there, I chatted with the delightful Larissa and Lena in the office - a little Russian, a lot of English - and they invited me to have lunch with them next week!  I feel so special!

Then the group met to work on their first group etude, which is always a fun process to watch.  The etude itself actually ended up going pretty well, though it could definitely have been sped up a bit.  Still... an excellent first effort!  Go team!  And then came the first round of object etudes, which brought us a flip phone, a straw, a fan, a fire extinguisher, a carpet, a recording device, a flower, a lighter, and a balloon - all of which were super interesting.

After class everyone went their separate ways, since we didn't have a show.  I took a couple of minutes to chat with a young woman who had been observing our class.  It turns out (I think) that she is a student from Brasil who has been studying here since April.  So, if that information is correct, then I'm very proud of the two of us for muddling through it, since clearly neither of us spoke great Russian.

Then around 9:00 the group came back together for our potluck.  It was a lovely time, the group was super talkative and insightful about the time they're spending here, and there was lots of yummy food (largely carbs and cheese based... so... you know... I was happy), and then we scattered for the night.  All things considered, it was a quiet day, but a good day!  And now, we have a show every night until at least the 17th.

11071 Steps
3.49 Miles

Inspecting...

This morning started off with a very encouraging email from my dissertation chair... so that was really an excellent way to wake up.  This puppy might actually get written after all, damnit!  Add to that a cool, gray, rainy day, and I was feeling pretty good.

On the classroom front, we had a teensy scheduling snafu... in that both our group and the group from Butler had the same schedule.  Oops.  So we decided to go ahead and switch to ballet first with singing second.  And I'll just say it: ballet did not go great today.  I think Renat was frustrated.  Hopefully the gang will knock it out of the park next time around.

Singing, on the other hand, seemed to go very well.  We got through everyone, people sound good, they're learning their songs and generally being awesome.  Marina seemed in generally good spirits... which just makes everyone happy.

After lunch, it was time for our usual acting teachers to emerge!  Sergei and Ilja have been traveling with their students (who are about to graduate), and just returned.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I know exactly when the students got back from their tour, because around 2:00 in the morning, there was a great ruckus outside that involved a lot of yelling about the greatness of MXAT's school, and, for some reason, how much they love America.  So, I think there may have been a touch of celebrating at the end of said tour.  Anyway, my guess is, with the late return, Sergei decided to take the day to himself, leaving the class in Ilja's capable hands.  Since I'm observing rather than participating this year, and since I've known him for several years now, Ilja was super warm in greeting me, which was fun.  I felt all growed up!  Ilja got them started fast, and the group progressed through a lot of exercises today, which is very good.  Since we have a little less time with them than usual due to that first week, I'm glad that it looks like this group is catching on to the training quickly.  That means that they'll have the opportunity to go interesting places.  And speaking of interesting, they start their object etudes tomorrow... which is always great fun!  I can't wait to see them!

After dinner, we gathered again at the MXAT student stage to watch the fourth year (graduating) students do something called ГогольРевизор.  Basically it was a show composed of etudes about Gogol's play The Inspector General.  Since this class is now down to their final performances as MXAT students, the place was PACKED.  While we were waiting to get in, I ran into our film history teacher (who is not teaching us this summer).  Galina actually was the one who grabbed me, asked me about my life... it was so cool!  Look at me with all my cool Russian friends!  Anyway, once we got into the theatre we were slammed in there with people sitting on the floor on pillows, people standing 6 deep in the aisles... it was nuts.  It was almost 2 1/2 hours without an intermission, and I stood through the whole thing because I was way in the back back row.  But let me tell you... it was fantastic!  It was so energetic and wild and creative and fun...and, as a bonus, there was a little audience participation.  First, it was set up as a bar, so one of the actresses was taking (and delivering) drink orders before the show.  Then, there was a great bit where one of the women started getting all amorous any time she heard "Unchained Melody."  The music played and she grabbed one of her cast members and started to kiss him - but when it stopped, she released him.  Then it played again and she grabbed a guy in the audience and planted one on him - but it still could have been a plant or a friend or something.  Then... she grabbed first Luke and then Carl from our group and gave them each a good smoochin'... while the rest of us cheered from the back row!  The final moment of the show ended up being a Russian theatre inside joke... THAT I TOTALLY GOT!  They finished up their evening with a little riff on an element from Butusov's (the director whose Othello we saw last night) famous production of The Seagull that I'm in love with. I felt so in the know in that moment.  I'm ready for my citizenship now!

The rest of the evening was pretty chill. I am still feeling a little worked up from seeing awesome theatre.  But something tells me, once I finally hit the pillow... I'll be gone.

Doppelganger update: So, we've had more than a few.  First, there was Russian Megan Barbour in the Starbucks (Sydney caught a sly picture... it's uncanny).  Apparently there was a Russian Jen...I didn't see her, but I am forming an elaborate plan to take over her life so that I can be in Russia any time I want (I'm sure her friends and family won't find it weird that her conversation is suddenly limited to purchasing theatre tickets).  Russian Brent Griffith played Kochkariev in the production of Marriage that we saw the other night.  And in the performance of etudes surrounding Inspector General tonight, we saw Russian Joseph Gordon Levitt, Russian Brad Smith, and Russian Doug Lubaway.  Oh... and Russian Becky Pierce was in the audience.

Seriously... if we do this right... we could all just live here and no one would be the wiser!

12534 Steps
3.96 Miles

Othello

Sundays are technically our days off in that we do not have classes.  But if we're being honest about it, Sundays aren't exactly off in any real sense of the word.  Today I started out with some early morning Starbucks skype time with my parents, and then with Brian (our cat Burr's butt made a few cameos... Burr loves his butt).  Then we loaded up our group with the group from Butler University and headed out for a bus tour around Moscow.  We went to Novodevichy Convent and Cemetery (the cemetery is a trip we usually save for the end of the month... so I actually felt like this trip sort of took the wind out of the sails of the one at the end... but since there was another group with us, we sort of had to let that go.  It'll still be special when we go later.  It'll just be different.  Then we went to the highest point in Moscow - Sparrow Hill - which gives a beautiful panoramic view of the city.  From there we drove by Victory Park, stopped along the river for a few photos, and finally ended up in Red Square (which was a little less scenic than usual since they are in full setup mode for upcoming Russia Day festivities).

Once back at the dorm, we had a little time for dinner (a little less than we thought... but I'll get to that), and we met up to head to the Satirikon for a new production of Othello directed by Yuri Butusov... on whom I may or may not have a ginormous intellectual and artistic crush.  We left a little early for the customary 7:00 Russian curtain time, but when we arrived at 6:15, we discovered that, though no one had informed us, the curtain for this particular show was 6:00.  Very embarrassing.  And I sat stewing through the entire first act, kicking myself (though it wasn't my fault - or really anyone's - it's just an honest mistake... and several Russians came in after us, so we clearly weren't the only ones to make it... but still...).  It was almost hard to pay attention, I was so caught up in being mad at myself.  Still... the production was fascinating.  This is the fifth show I have seen by this director (we'll see one I've seen before on Thursday, and one more I haven't on Friday), so I sort of know to expect the wildly unexpected... and this was definitely that.  It was a little more opaque than most of his other works, but still a complete feast for the senses.  Othello himself was played by a white actor who regularly painted his face and/or hands black (not brown... black).  It's important to note that this was not black face per se... and it's also important to note that Russia does not have the same relationship with race that we do... so with those qualifiers, it actually ended up providing some pretty amazing images.  Most of the time he just appeared as himself - it was only at key moments when his face or his arm(s) would be painted.  When he was talking about wooing Desdemona with tales of battle, the three women playing Desdemona for that moment surrounded him, hanging on his every word, and when the one would would become Desdemona for the rest of the performance chose to kiss him, the black rubbed off onto her face.  When she later appeared nude wrapped in a black curtain, beckoning him to bed, it was only his hand that was black as it intertwined with hers.  It was very interesting that the color became not about something that was inherently different about him, but something that the society put on him.  And finally, when he killed her, he painted her face black like his... and the play closed on a seemingly endless tableau of the two sullied lovers seated side by side, and the symmetrical bodies of Emilia and Iago (yeah... in this version Iago dies) at their feet.  Nobody won in this Othello.

Of course, there was much more beyond that.  There was a grass covered bed on which Desdemona fantasized about marrying Cassio by mistake.  There was a moment when, section by section, the entire floor was turned over to reveal the darkness on the underside of the wood.  There were butterflies that no one could catch - like that perfect image of love - they remained always out of reach.  There was stunning work with two-way mirrors.  Roderigo was basically Eminem... and he had the clothes and theme music to prove it.  There was a long scene when Othello searched through huge boxes in complete silence, only to discover a little toy dog that sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" and clapped its little paws.  Maybe it was the innocence that he had so loved about Desdemona?  I don't claim to understand or even to remember everything I saw.  And though I think the production overall was a little less skilled in storytelling than were his other pieces, it was full of candy for the eyes and the soul.  And, while I was watching, I couldn't stop getting ideas for a production of Hamlet that I have suddenly decided that I need to direct.  So... who wants to give me a theatre and about 4-5 months of rehearsal?

14161 Steps
4.47 Miles

Master and Margarita

Today was a big day here in Москва.  We started off with stage combat - for realsies this time.  He did a lot of heavy partner work with them today - it was all about communicating and responding appropriately.  I really love the way he teaches combat.  It feels so connected to acting.  It's maybe a little more philosophical of an approach than I'm used to in the states, which feels a bit more mechanical.

After combat, we shuffled off to the Stanislavsky house museum, which was a lot of fun.  We got a tour of the small apartment that Stanislavsky and his family lived in for the last 17 years of his life.  It's so funny, because I've toured this place several times now, and I've taken the tours, and I've had to give the tours, and I've been given apocryphal information that was all so romantic and legendary... and a good helping of it actually ended up being debunked today by our friendly neighborhood docent.  But still, she was lovely, I'm glad to have the new information, and I was able to deal with her in Russian and English... so go me.

After the tour, pretty much everyone was voracious, so we headed back for some lunch before our last day of acting with Misha.  It's so strange to have had him just for this one week.  The group has grown so attached to him already.  Of course, I know the awesome that awaits next week when we start up with Sergei... so there's that.  But still, the class was quite amusing today, as they played a round of the game "Mafia"... which always gets super contentious.  But it was a pretty fascinating game to watch from the outside.  There were some other wonderful activities as well that sort of defy description.  But all things considered, it was a pretty great way to end our time with him (I say "our"... but it would definitely be more appropriate to say "their."  Since I was just observing, I'm pretty sure Misha doesn't even know my name.  But whatever... he was still a joy to watch!  I've learned oodles!)

From there, it was dinner before our first show at the Moscow Art Theatre: Мастер и Маргарита - an adaptation of Bulgakov's novel of the same name.  This was my third time seeing it, and it still takes my breath away.  The sheer scope of the scenic effects is enough to knock you off your socks, but the fact that all the big shiny bells and whistles actually serve the play... madness!  The brilliant movement piece that introduces the metro; the buoyantly floating scrim that drops as Margarita flies over Moscow; the subway car; the moon... it's all so delicious.  The group was completely floored.  And yeah... the man who plays Woland (the Satan figure in the play) has got to be about 7 feet tall, and all the Russian man that has ever Russia-ed.  I know it's the cat's name, but the actor playing Woland is a real life behemoth!  We have three teeny tiny pixies on this trip... I would be so thrilled if we could get a picture of any of the three of them with him.

From there, we walked home through the delightfully cool summer evening in a cloud of awesome theatre afterglow.  All in all... not a bad way to end the first week!

18169 Steps
5.74 Miles

Mawwage

...is what bwought us togevvuh... tonight.

But before we got there, we had a sort of strange day.  We arrived at 10:00am for our Stage Combat class... but apparently our teacher got his wires crossed (something you overlook in a fearless beast of a man), so our class was cancelled.  The thing is, we didn't have class again until 2:30... so that meant we had about four hours to kill.  I'm not sure what everyone else did... I mostly did some reading and some journaling, strolled down to Red Square for a few just to pop by and say howdy to ol' Basil, and generally enjoyed the quiet time.  I also spent some time with our awesome MXAT support staff getting some ticket things figured out.  So that's cool.  Acting this afternoon turned out to be a really lovely, moving day.  I can't really do justice to all the magical things that the students did in class today, but it made me really proud and happy to see them commit to the work and each other the way they did.  It was a super special day.  And that's really all I can say about that.

Then, while five folks headed back to the dorm, eight of us hoofed it up to the Lenkom Theatre where we saw Женитьба (Marriage).  This is a production I saw two years ago, and though I don't love the leading lady (she's a little long in the tooth for the role, and a little hammy for my taste, but when you're related to the head of the theatre, well...), the show itself is quite a spectacle.  The use of automation in stages over here is very impressive.  And what may well be most impressive is that the automation is used effectively to progress the plot.  Madness, I know!  The action of the show sort of revolves around this big wardrobe - which rises sideways out of the floor at the top of the show (while a couch revolves from under the stage with an actor on it), and later moves about, flies, etc.  It's pretty impressive.  But there's one point where a whole wall is whirling around like a windmill, mirroring the whirlwind in which Podkolyosin (approximate transliteration) finds himself... it's pretty wow-worthy.  It's definitely a step of from our Twelfth Night the other night... and I just can't even express how much of a step up tomorrow night is going to be!  I love knowing what's in store!  It's so much fun!  Though, we also have a few shows that I don't know, and that is fun too.  I love the chance to discover  these ridiculously awesome pieces!

Sadly... I forgot to wear my pedometer today.  I'm thinking it was 3.75ish miles.  So... we'll say it was that.  I'm really hoping all this walking and eating less will translate to fitting back into my dress for my friend's wedding in July.  See... this trip is inspiring AND practical!

Sweat

9382 Steps
2.96 Miles

Okay... it's always hot in Moscow in June.  It just is.  That's weather.  But man, it has felt just SWELTERING these last couple of days.  I can't seem to not be sweating.  And this is not a city that really embraces the creature comfort of air conditioning all that much.  Certainly not to the level we do in the US.  So I walk to class... and I sweat.  I watch the ballet class... and I sweat.  I sing... and I sweat.  I eat buckwheat and vegetables...and I sweat.  I observe acting class... and I sweat.  I walk home... and I damn sure sweat!  But hey... I also learn a lot.  So stop whining, self!  Geez!

This morning we had ballet again.  I was pleased to see how much the students retained from the first class.  It always makes Renat crazy when we don't retain what he teaches us.  I have faith in this group.  They're working hard!  Then we hopped over to singing class where we started out with our crazy trio... and frankly, for our first time singing it through with accompaniment... we may have been just a little awesome.  I'm very proud of us.  Actually, I'm proud of everyone.  It's so much fun to sing with Marina.  And she has brought a lot of different songs into the mix this year than in the past three.  The biggest surprise, however, was at the end of the class when one of the students started working on a new piece she had been given... and it quickly turned into a group number.  All That Jazz is now some of the most organic singing fun I have ever had!  Go team!

Lunch was uneventful, until the very end when JT swung by to take me over to the administration building to meet the ladies in the offices.  Larissa and Lilina are names I have always seen in email chains, but somehow I managed never to meet them in all my times here.  So it was nice to get a chance to put faces with the names.  And they were very sweet about my Russian - praising me for being able to speak any at all.  And let's face it... who doesn't like a little praise here and there?

Then it was back for acting class, which was a lot of fun today.  They did some activities that are old favorites of mine, as well as an etude in which they had to check a list to see if they got into the university of their choice - and it was up to them whether their name was there or not.  It was interesting to watch the ways in which they dealt with the good/bad news.  The most fun, however, was an etude in which they had to be a bunch of actors waiting to find out which of them had been cast in a film.  It was deliciously awkward!  Then they finished up by drawing pictures of each other and making up stories about them.  Misha does a lot of exercises designed to open up the imagination, and man, are they a lot of fun.  I really look forward to trying some of them with my own students one of these days.  But first I need a job... and before that I need to write the damn dissertation...

Yeah... it always comes back to that.

Anyway, it was a quiet evening around the dorm, and I have been determined to keep myself awake instead of drifting off like I want to.  I feel like tonight will be the one that truly tips the scales into Moscow's time zone.  I just need another hour of consciousness... that's all... I can do that... er... maybe.

Partners

18146 Steps
5.73 Miles

This morning was our first stage combat class, which is always a lot of fun.  The teacher is a fearless beast of a man who is just fascinating to watch.  He introduces every exercise with, "Next pleasure."  He had the group all over the place, doing all kinds of different activities - they were working very hard in there, for sure!  Every now and again, JT, the translator, and I had to relocate to avoid being run over by zealous high-fiving or some other such activity.  After class, I headed up to the Lenkom Theatre to pick up tickets for Marriage for some of us on Friday.  I was supposed to buy eight tickets.  She told me there were 5 for the price we wanted, and 3 for a price 2.5 times the price we wanted to pay.  I told her that was too much money for students, so I would just buy the five.  Then, lo and behold... three more cheaper tickets appeared!  So I felt pretty good about myself on that interaction.  We're in the absolute back rows of the balcony, but we're there!

Then I headed back down to school for a quick lunch before acting class... unfortunately, one of the students thought she had left her cell phone behind at the Starbucks near our dorm that morning, so rather than making her miss any of the class, I did the good den mother thing and made the journey there and back myself.  Thankfully, it turned out to be a successful journey, as the barista had her phone back in the office.  Huzzah!  I did manage to make it back for the second half of class, which largely involved everyone describing how they thought the world would end.  This was fascinating, hilarious, and a little depressing.

Back at the dorm for the night, I hung out quietly while the kiddos went out for dinner.  I had every intention of using that quiet time to my advantage - maybe doing some reading and writing and whatnot, but I'm still just the teensiest bit jet lagged... so I just ended up zonking out until they returned.  <sigh>  Then... well... I zonked out some more. Honestly, I'm getting concerned that, four times in, my blog is now getting a little boring.  The kiddos are always out running around exploring with every spare second they can find, while I just sort of hang out in the dorm, reading and wishing I were writing... I do need to make a point of heading out to a couple of places I haven't seen yet that I know I want to...but I also have to make a point of making some progress on that dissertation monster that keeps breathing down my neck.

Oh... but why the post title?  Well... today's activities were all so partner focused.  It was really neat to hear the continuity in lessons between stage combat and acting class.  The philosophies are so compatible.  I feel like, in the US, a lot of the time our training is so haphazard.  Whatever disparate things these people in this department like are what we'll talk about.  But here, there is such deliberate heritage.  Whether you are telling a painful story from your partner's childhood, or chasing your partner's hands around the room with your knees, the relationship between the partner is paramount.  It's why an audience leans forward in their seats to see what will happen next.  I really loved that little motif for the day.