Russian 101, Unit 3: Zinaida Serebryakova

 

(Self Portrait at the Dressing Table)

Zinaida Yevgenyevna Serebryakova was born into a family that encircled themselves in the art world. Her father Yevgey, a famous sculptor, her mother a painter and her three brothers (one a painter, one a graphic artist, and one a sculptor)—naturally, in this family, she’d be not only interested in art but also, have talent in painting. After grammar school (or high school in Russian), she went to an Art School created by Princess Tenisheva (school name was known as Princess Tenisheva Art School) in St. Petersburg where she was directed by the realist painter Ilya Repin. Later, she studied at a studio directed by Osip Braz—and after studying at the studio, she decided to travel to Italy from 1902-1903. In going to Italy, she traveled to paris and studed for one full year at the Academie de la Grande Chaumierce. In returning home, she joined a type of Artist alliance in Russian where she displayed her paintings at a exhibition. A particular painting that led Serebryakova to her first step to fame as one of the first female Russian painters was her Self Portrait at the Dressing table—the painting was critique for its originality and its lack of pretension. Serebryakova was very interested in having her paintings be brought to life with the use of vivid colors and making her art so realistic (by using the geographical landscape and using the sculpture bodies as reference for her subjects). Later on in life, she married a famous writer and railway engineer named Boris Serebraykov—which they had 4 children together. Unfortunately, for Zinaida, her life took a turn for the worst when the October Revolution began. Riots took place in St Petersburg first and later spread to the capital of Russia, spreading chaos. This revolution had made Zinaida  lose her home, her husband (who died of typhus)—leaving her no choice but to escape to Paris with her 4 children. Over at Paris, she had to work to make a living. Although she could continue to draw and paint in her spare time, due to the low income, she had to use more charcoal, papers and pencils rather than paint to save some of the money. However, with that lack of art supplies, she was able to create a masterpiece that also gained Zinaida fame, the Castle of Cards--which depicted the lifestyle she and her 4 childrens faced during the October Revolution and their lifestyle at Paris. From that point on, with charcoal, pencil and some colors, she was able to draw some beautiful paintings--from ballerinas to nudity. And in the end, Zinaida Serebryakova spent her last moments at Paris.

When I look at the Self Portrait, rather than a lack of pretnsion, it seemed brilliant and vivid. It was almost like I was looking at someone else or myself through the mirror.

Learning through listening

English is not my mother tongue. I learned English at school but I actually really improved by watching English movies. It must have been more than 200 movies I guess. That is about 300 hours of movie. My understanding of the language improved immensely by that. Listening to prepared audio samples in classroom context mostly doesn't reflect the actual language you would find when walking in the streets of that country. Movies are more authentic in that condition, and moreover it's more fun.
Having made this experience with the English language I want to start the same with Russian movies. Russian movies are not as easy to get as English movies. On DVDs you can change the language but in rare cases you'll find them in Russian. To start with some material I looked up Russian TV web pages on the internet.

On http://www.1tv.ru/ you can find previews to TV shows, documentations and the current news. Especially the news are interesting because it gives you insights in Russian current topics and daily live.   You'll also find international news e.g. on the Russian plane which was heading to Syria and got stopped by the Turkish aircraft. Every country's news has a different point of view - very interesting! 

                                                                  http://www.1tv.ru/

5 weeks past the first post in Russia

Sorry for the delay in blogging. It's been busy here. I had gotten sick a week or so after posting and now I'm sick again, this time with the flu. Wonderful isn't it? Not. 

Anyway, a couple weeks after posting I went with another branch of IGLU to Olhon Island on Lake Baikal. It is the most famous and most beautiful island on Lake Baikal. I seriously wouldn't mind living there for awhile. We left the school around 8:15 am Friday morning and arrived there around 3 pm. Ate lunch and then we went on a boat tour of the lake. Got to see Shaman Rock from the water. it was beautiful!!! (you'll see that that word is most often used here, cause it's true.) Oh boy... Russians sure know how to party!!! Friday night the supervisors (the бабушки-grandmothers) made us talk about ourselves and play games till midnight around a bonfire! it was fun the first hour but after that we were tired (we meaning the Americans) and wanted to go to bed. We sneaked away feigning that we had to go to the bathroom. lol. then Saturday morning after breakfast, we went on a mini-van tour of the island. Our driver was a dare-devil. he took us on a logging road away from the others and raced up hills, past the other vans. it was both thrilling and exciting. Asians in the other mini-vans, as soon as they got out, were throwing up! their stomachs are very weak. even on the bus to the island they were trying not to throw up! but the island is absolutely beautiful!!! it really is. And Saturday night they tried it again, but this time Jessi and I stayed in our room, nice and warm, and away from them. We went to bed early, we were exhausted. the town itself was really small but it was really nice. Most Russians are friendly and helpful if you just talk to them. They may not look like it on the outside, but it's true. and also, the strays here, cats and dogs, seem happier, more well fed, and friendlier than in the USA. some of the animals will just come up to you and you can pet them to your heart's content, and with cats, you can even pick them up! they'll purr and purr, love on you and everything! they're so sweet. I wish I could take all the strays home with me! there was this one puppy on Olhon that was ADORABLE!!! it was sooo friendly and lovable. and it was half husky! I love huskies. Sunday was our free day. we had breakfast and were free to do whatever we wanted until after lunch, when we were leaving. so we went and took more pictures of Shaman Rock, and then we went souvenir looking/shopping. Didn't really find anything so we just explored the town. The bus ride home was very long. took us 4-5 hours to get back. and then when we were dropped off at IGLU, this drunk man came up to us, started talking to Max and then to each of us girls individually. he kissed our hands!! it was disgusting. thank goodness I had my gloves on! didn't feel a thing. when he got to Jessi, he said that he wanted to make her his mistress!! funny and concerning at the same time. after a few more minutes Kristin's host mom pulled up and we sneaked into the car, but she had to go rescue Max cause he couldn't get out of the conversation with him. at the time it had been creepy but now that we can look back at it, it's very funny. I got back to the dorm with 15 minutes to spare, one of the бабушки yelled at me for not telling them I was going away for a couple days. I didn't know I had to tell them that! and it was the one who is very mean to me too. The silver/white haired lady... I do not like her at all.

nothing with too much interest over the last couple of weeks to report. just doing the best I can to survive Russia. hanging out with friends, going different places, learning so much, and my Russian's still slowly improving! I understand it better in written form rather than speech still...

if you want to see the pictures I've taken in Irkutsk and just in Russia, here's a link to them: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4071808747692.2150989.1056588493&type=1&l=a144b65040

Unit 3: музыка

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian pianist, composer, and conductor. His early influences included Tchaikovsky, as well as Rimsky-Korsakov. Rachmaninoff, being born into a musical family, began taking piano lessons at a young age. Throughout his life, he struggled with balancing performing and composition. He was considered one of the greatest artists of his day(1873-1943), and one of the last representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. Of his many compositions, one of my favorites is entitled The Isle of the Dead. Rachmaninoff wrote this piece after being inspired by a painting of the same name, which he saw in Paris. Although lengthy, this is a great song for Halloween due to its ominous sound. Here is a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbbtmskCRUY

The бард and the семиструнка

In the 1960's, the term "bard" (бард) was applied to Russian singer-songwriters who were known for their poetry that they set to simple folk music.  Among the major emphases of bard poetry is a strong anti-Soviet sentiment that rendered bards mostly underground during the Soviet era, and consequently their music was rarely allowed to be recorded.  In general, bard poetry expresses messages of escapism and glorification of the outlaw life, and in this sense reminds one of American Western ballads and some American folk music.

Check out this Russian bard music here.

Bard poetry is generally accompanied only by a Russian guitar to maintain simplicity of the music so that the lyrics take prominence.  The Russian guitar itself is an interesting and unique aspect of bard music.  Unlike an ordinary six-string guitar, the Russian guitar has seven strings, and in Russian is often called a семиструнка, a nickname derived from семиструнная гитара (seven-stringed guitar).  The tuning of the семиструнка also differs from the standard tuning (E-A-D-G-B-e) of a six-string guitar; instead it is tuned to an open G-chord (D-G-B-d-g-b-d).

Unit 2: Religion

It was interesting to research religion in Russia, as compared to Poland and the United States.  I expected the religious beliefs to be very similar to Poland, since the two countries are both Eastern European.  While I found that Russia, Poland, and the US are all primarily believers in Christianity, the denominations (and diversity of other religions) varied greatly.  Poland is mostly Roman Catholic, with very small percentages of other denominations and different religions.  The US is a secular country, but the largest percentage of people (78% in 2007) identify themselves as Christians, and of those, 24% identify themselves as Roman Catholic. Aside from this, the US has the most diversity regarding other religions, such as Islam and Judaism.  Russians, on the other hand, are primarily Christian Orthodox, and Roman Catholics are a minority.  Islam and Judaism are also traditional and common religions in Russia, while they are minorities in Poland and the United States.

The Seven Giants of the Urals

       Man-Pupu-Nyor (little mountain of the gods) is a magical geological formation sculpted deep within the Ural mountains in Russia. It consists of seven impressive rock formations with heights varying from 30 to 42 meters which reign over the solitary mountain plateau. Access to limited to only very well prepared travelers and usually requires the use of helicopters and snowmobiles due to it's location remote and inhospitable region in the Komi Republic 

      

       Man-Pupu-Nyor in Russia is a place which inspired hundreds of legends throughout the years. The unusual shape of the giant rocks as well as their distribution (six grouped together and one several meters apart) was probably the reason for the most known myth. It is said that a shaman cast a spell on the evil giants and turned them into stone. Another belief is that a giant fell in love with the beautiful daughter of his friend, the local tribal leader. But she not only rejected him, but also ridiculed him. The resentful giant called his brothers to his assistance and together they decided to assault the town where the beauty lived. She called for the protection of her brother who, with the help of good spirits and a magic shield, turned the giants into stones.

 

 

 

 

Russian 101, Unit 2: Kulich

Russian Pasteries vary from pancakes to just regular cakes. However, there is one speacial cake that is offered every year on Easter Sunday known as Kulich. The Russians or families linage is from Russia sometimes say that this recipe was passed down by their great-grandmothers. The Kulich is a very tall, cylinder sweet cake that sometimes contain lots of almonds, raisins or fruits on the cake. The cake is usually sliced and is spread with a special sweet cheese known as paskha. The origins of the cake was to be said dated back when the Greek Orthodox Church forbid the comsumption of the 'forbidden ingredients' such as: eat meat, eggs, butter or other dairy products. Then, when Easter Sunday comes, the Church allows the people to eat the forbidden ingredients, making the cake famous for its large porportion of eggs and butter in the cakes ingredient.

Ingredients for Kulich

200 ml whole milk
25 g fresh yeast
450 - 500 g flour
200 ml sugar
4 egg yolks
3 - 4 egg whites
100 g almonds + some for garnishing
¼ tsp salt
150 g butter
(1 tsp vanilla sugar)
pinch of saffron threads
½ - 1 tbsp vodka

Russian beverage

Of course we all know Russian's are well known for their love for vodka, but there are some other signature drinks that are often consumed in Russia. One popular (and probably the most ancient) Russian drink is medovukha. This drink is made of a variety of spices and fermented honey. Medovukha's slightly stronger equivalent might be stavlenniy myod, which is another honey-based drink. Kvass is a non-alcoholic drink (well- 0.5% hardly constitutes as alcohol) that is both popular and dates back a few centuries. A dough is made when liquid malt, water, and flour are mixed and fermented. Water is added to the fermented liquid and is then mixed with sugar, berry juices, and yeast. The final mixture brews for several days, and it becomes what we know as Kvass.

Ukrainian Hopak Dance (Cossack Dance)

The Ukrainian Hopak dance first began to develop in the sixteenth century. Men that were in the military practiced the dance as a diversion from the heavy military training, especially when a battle had been recently won. The dance is characterized by acrobatic stunts, uniform movements from a number of dancers, squatting and jumping motions, and kicks. The music behind the dancers often does not have a standard tempo or melody and will change drastically between movements to emphasize different aspects of the dance. This style of traditional dancing is still very prevalent today in Ukraine, often being incorporated into operas and ballets.

An example of the Cossack style dance to Reinhold Gliere's "Russian Sailor's Dance" from his ballet The Red Poppy: