Константи́н Серге́евич Станисла́вский (Constantin Sergeivich Stanislavski) and some FUN FACTS you might not know!

Born in Moscow in 1863, Constantin Stanislavski was perhaps the most decorated and most important theatre practitioner of the late 19th and early 20th century. Stanislavski's work was as important to the development of socialist realism in the Soviet Union as it was to that of psychological realism in the United States post World War II. It draws on a wide range of influences and ideas, including his study of the modernist and avant-garde developments of his time.

Most of you may be familiar with the 'Stanislavski Method' or simply "method acting", to which many actors today use to create in themselves the thoughts and feelings of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances. A great example of this would be Heath Ledger's gripping portrayal of "The Joker" in the 2008 action thriller Batman The Dark Knight.

Moscow Theatre
In 1888, Stanislavski founded the Society of Art and Literature, with which he performed and directed productions for over ten years. Then, in June 1897, he and playwright/director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko decided to open the Moscow Art Theatre, which would be an alternative to standard theatrical aesthetics of the day.

AND TIME FOR SOME FUN FACTS!! интересные факты!!
1) Russia is one million square miles larger than Pluto

2) There are over 500,000 alcohol-related deaths in Russia every year

3) Bears in Russia are addicted to jet fuel, and sniff it to get high and pass out

баня

               As I scrolled through various Russian customs and traditions, I came across something I found quite interesting. In America, many citizens enjoy going, every once in a while, to a room filled with hot steam. We all know that a room like this is known as a sauna. Well in Russia, this is called a парилка. It is part of the general баня. And Russians apparently take there баня pretty seriously. It seems that it is a daily routine to relax in the баня with a group of friends. Also, there is something called a веник which is some sort of bath broom made of leafy branches that are dunked in cold water. These brooms are then slapped against the skin of the people participating. This hitting is said to hurt at first, and then become relaxing. Many times, one of the friends in your group will help you out with this. But if you don’t have your friends around for some odd reason, there is a special person responsible for the slapping of the twigs against the skin. This person is what’s called a банщик. As it turns out, the branch whipping is said to produce smooth skin and better circulation. Although I don’t understand certain parts of this tradition, I can understand why this is so common if it really does benefit their health. 

Для Тебя

When one thinks of Russian music, pop songs rarely come to mind. However, Russia has its own genre of pop music. one of the more popular bands is Звери (Zveri) with their hit song Для Тебя (Dyla Tebya). The song when tranlsated into english is titled "For You" and amounts to a romance turned violent in what can only be dubbed a quick escalation. With it's catchy beat and captivating lyrics it's no wonder it became so popular. The band Zveri it self formed in 2002 by Roman Bilyk, whose nickname (Zver') was used to create the band's name. The bands first album, "Hunger" was released in 2003 and since then Zveri has gone on to have one of their songs used in the top-selling game "Grand Theft Auto IV".  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chmVIURReWE - Dyla Tebya music video

Сергей Рахманинов

Sergei Vassilievich Rachmaninoff

     Born on (1 April, 1873 - 28 March 1943) in Semyonova Russia to an aristocratic family. Both Rachmaninoff's parents were amateur pianists who gave Sergei his first lessons when he was young. However, after Rachmaninoff's talents came to light, it was his maternal grandfather Arkady Alexandrovich who hired Anna Ornatskaya a musician from Saint Petersburg to give Rachmaninoff personal lessons in 1882.

    Ornatskaya taught Rachmaninoff for three years until the Rachmaninoff family had financial issues said to be caused by gambling debts and had to sell 4 of their 5 estates. Upon returning to her home Ornatskaya arranged for Rachmaninoff to attend the Saint Petersburg Conservatory which he started at the age of 10. However soon after moving to Saint Petersburg Rachmaninoff's sister Sofia died in a diphtheria outbreak, at this same time Rachmaninoff's parents separated. This of course left Sergei in an academic disaster causing him to fail all of his exams.

    At this point the faculty of the conservatory advised Rachmaninoff's mother to ship off her 12 year old son to study at the conservatory in Moscow. It was here where Sergei's musical career was put back on track due to Nikolai Zverev's strict work ethics. In fact Sergei thrived in Moscow not only was he getting piano lessons from Nikolai Zverev he was also getting them from Alexander Ziloti who was a former student of Franz Liszt.
    In Moscow he was also being taught music theory and composition by names such as Anton Arensky and Sergei Tanyev. Quickly becoming their best and most valued student Rachmaninoff finished his piano studies a year early, and quickly finished his composition course in a single year by writing the one-act opera Aleko.
   When Rachmaninoff first moved to Moscow his maternal grandmother  frequently took Sergei to Russian Orthodox services, where he was first introduced to the liturgical chants and the big church bells of the city both of which have a huge influence on Rachmaninoff's compositions.
   One composition you can clearly hear the influence of the big bells of the Moscow is in his Prelude in C# minor Op.3 No.2 which is one of his most popular/famous compositions. It also has been called "the bells of Moscow" and if you listen to the motif in the A section of the piece you can hear the bells ringing in the distance, and near the end you can hear them slowly fade away into the air.

Please Enjoy My Horrible Playing of Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# minor

Thanks for reading and Listening!

Putin - The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Although these days Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, is almost always regarded with a certain air of disdain, it cannot be said that Putin hasn't gone to extremes to ensure a good public image. From finding ancient Greek ceramic jugs whilst scuba-diving to riding horses lacking a shirt, Putin has definitely made an effort to show the people not only his bounding masculinity but also a gentle side rarely believed to exist in Russia nowadays.

Simply Google "Vladimir Putin shirtless," and hundreds upon hundreds of results will pop up. The man clearly doesn't mind being seen without a shirt, unlike several other notable presidents today (Mr. Obama...). The common folk have even gone so far as to Photoshop Mr. Putin riding a bear, a dragon, and numerous other interesting things. While this undoubtedly secures Vladimir the number 1 spot in the testosterone category for presidents, he doesn't stop there. While on a trip to Siberia, Putin reportedly rescued the camera crew from almost certain death at the hands of a rare Siberian tiger. Unfortunately, the unbelievably courageous act of heroism was not caught on camera.

However, masculinity itself does not make a great president. Putin simply couldn't let the commoners of the world see him as a simple, one-sided brawn-oriented man that had no respect for the gentler folk. While scuba-diving back in 2011, Vladimir and the crew managed to find broken pieces of vases from Greece well over 2000 years old. Since then he has admitted to the pieces being planted, but hey, it was worth a shot, right? However, leaving you all with Putin in such a bad light would be unfair to Mr. Vladimir, so I shall conclude with this. In 2010, Putin received a young Bulgarian Shepard as an expression of thanks from the Bulgarian prime minister. Being a smart man, he seized the opportunity when he saw it. Mr. Putin offered up the naming of the puppy to the common folk of Russia. Finally deciding on the fierce name of Buffy (don't forget Fluffy from Harry Potter now, this thing could be highly dangerous), Putin not only invited the 5 year old boy who somehow managed to come up with this legendary name into his home, but made sure he left with none other than a signed football from the man himself.

Russian Sports

       When considering Russia's sport repertoire, one may not be surprised at the favoritism of cold weather sports, due to Russia's cold climate, and some parts of the ginormous country even lying within the arctic circle. Nor should a love for challenge and competition come as surprising, given Russia's impressive history, and the size of the once great empire, the U.S.S.R. The important thing to take away is that Russians have an applaudable affinity for challenging sports, and they have within their favorites a source of common ground with every great nation, including ours. 

       I thought it would be a good idea to research Russia's main sports in order to better understand their culture. I know in the past sports have allowed me to connect with people of all nationalities and backgrounds. It is amazing how effectively a ball, puck, or chess piece can cross cultural lines. Sports are not only common ground, but they are demonstrative of a nation's past, and many times their future. In learning about how a nation spends their free time, we learn an incredible amount about their personality and their character.

       In researching Russia's sports, I came across a website from the travel channel, http://www.travelchannel.com/interests/sports/articles/russian-sports. I expected hockey, mostly due to the movie "Miracle". But there were other, less prominent sports that Russia favors. For instance, I never considered Artistic Gymnastics. Apparently this is a style of rhythmic gymnastics, and it is not just big in Russia, but it is their source of national pride. They have prominent competitors in this realm, most famously Nikolai Andrianov and Svetlana Khorkina. Russia's love for chess took me at an equal degree of surprise. Not only is it favored as a popular sport, but the very idea of chess is different to  Russians. They view it as not just an activity of mental execration, but as a sport that takes a physical toll as well. This mindset shocked me, but upon consideration I'd have to agree. I've certainly been stressed enough playing chess that my head has hurt! In addition, Russia enjoys the great sport of Football (American soccer), figure skating, and skiing.

The Educational System of Russia

The structure of the educational system in Russia is very similar to that of the United States. Schooling is state sponsored and available to all. Completing compulsory education from ages 6-15, the order of the schooling is Primary, Basic, Complete Secondary, and vocational or another form of higher education.

There are four popular forms of Complete Secondary Education. General schools, or Общеобразовательная средняя, are comparable to public schools with a Kindergarten through eleventh grade education. Общеобразовательная с уклоном are intensive general schools that offer a more specialized education in a specific area of study. Next, gimnaziya- Гимназия, Gymnasiums, offer specialized education in the humanities. Very similar to the Gymnasium is the Lyceum, licej– Лицей, which only differs in terminology, rather than content and curriculum (The System of Education in Russia). There are also private schools in Russia, however, they are not very common. Of all of these forms of schooling, general schools are the most heavily attended. After completing Secondary Education, students receive certificates stating the completion of general education (Russia).

After finishing their Secondary Education, about half of all Russians go on to complete some sort of tertiary education, a college degree in the United States. The number of adults completing higher education in Russia is one of the highest in the world (Frohlich). These schools are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science. At these Universities, students can receive degrees equivalent to an associate’s degree (incomplete higher education), bachelors (Bakalavr’s degree), masters (Specialist diploma or Magistr), or doctorate (Candidate of Sciences or Doctor of Sciences) (Russia).

The education system of Russia is very similar to that of the United States, making it very easy to understand and relate to. Russians complete various levels of schooling culminating in the attendance of some form of tertiary education for most individuals.

Works Cited

Frohlich, Thomas C. “The most educated countries in the world.” USA Today. 13 September 2014. Web. 16 September 2014.

“Russia.” The European Education Directory. IAU. 2006. Web. 16 September 2014.

“The system of education in Russia.” NORRIC. Norric Recognition Network. February 2005. Web. 16 September 2014. 

Romanticism in 18th and 19th century art

The Romantic aesthetic was largely a result of residual Neoclassicist and Baroque stylistic nuances. In Russia, ornamentation and complexity generally gave way to high emotionalism and a nearly palpable softness. Romanticism valued an intense aesthetic experience often inspired by emotion and nature.

Thus, a visual gentleness popularly characterized subject matter in portraiture. Often featuring a naturalistic representation of everyday life (as opposed to the previous heavily commissioned portraits of the Russian elite), portrait painters poetically depict the common man. For this reason, Romanticism in Russia ushers in a revolutionary and widely held notion: the individual is now a valuable measure of society.  

Orest Kiprensky’s portrait of Alexander Pushkin portrays romantic suggestions of an individual personality. Early Romanticism and the classical reference of the statue in the background suggest realism and idealism found in Pushkin’s poetry.

-Jenna Bolusky

Shostakovitch

Dmitri Shostakovitch was a renowned composer during the 20th Century. He was born in 1906 in St. Petersburg, and attended the Petrograd Conservatory. The style of music he wrote was very controversial at the time in Soviet Russia. His earlier compositions were satirical in nature, which led him to be attacked by the Soviet press and threatened by Stalin. Over time, his compositions became more dark and defiant against the Soviet government. Orchestras and ballets were wary of performing his compositions because they feared the Soviet government's reaction. Shostakovitch was basically a blacklisted composer at the height of the Reign of Terror when he wrote one of his most famous symphonies- Symphony No. 5.
If you listen to it, you can imagine the loss of control Shostakovitch was feeling, as well as the feeling of desolation and apathy. The symphony is rather long, but if you listen to just the beginning then skip around, you'll get a feel for the emotion he portrays.

As a side note, Shostakovitch would include his German initials in several of his compositions - D. Sch. These translate to the note names D, E-flat, C, and B. The combination of these notes appear as a main motif in many of his compositions, especially his String Quartet No. 8. The theme is the first thing you hear in this quartet, and if you keep listening, you can hear it change from the slow motif to a more quick, agitated version of the same notes.

Blini; a Traditional Russian Dish

Now I know you must be wondering, what are blini? Blini were originally a traditional Russian dish eaten during Shrovetide to celebrate the beginning of spring and the god of animals, pets, and cattle-- Volos (Veles). A blin was golden and circular-shaped, symbolizing the sun and hopes for good harvest. Blini were also traditionally served to the mother at one's birth as well as at one's final funeral ceremony, accompanying one from the very first breath to the last. Commonly appearing as a flat pancake nearly equivalent to the French crepe, blini are a traditional part of the Russian diet. Blini can come with a multitude of different fillings--berries, sour cream, and cheese to name a few. So, if you ever come across a blini, don't pass up the opportunity to try one of these delicious traditional Russian pancakes!