Palaces, War and Vitamin D

looking across the melted Neva at the Hermitage

the Hermitage, one of our "neighbors"

bear hanging out at Hermitage

We are about half way through our time here. Being this far north is such a treat this time of year as the sun is staying with us until past 10:00 pm already.  A daily baptism of Vitamin D.  The mood lifts, the skin is grateful. By 9:00 it's a pink light that is just so surreal. White Nights are on the way...we've been excited by the green grass, flowers, birds and tree buds.  Also the public clean up has been impressive.  Daniel reports "at school, we never get to play outside in winter time but we get to play outside at spring time!  We are also going to be gardening starting next week".  The boys have the next two Monday's off from school for May Day and May 9th which is Day of Victory (WW II).  There will be parades with tanks etc and that should be interesting.  One not so great thing about spring here is the mosquitoes.  Both boys have been bitten and Sasha had his school mates convinced he had chicken pox (Mission: to be sent home early. Result: thwarted by mom).

Boys eating Ice Cream at the Hermitage on an early spring day

As I walk around town, I am truly awed by the architecture.  The grandness. The colors and design.  Now that the canals are melted and flowing one can truly imagine life a hundred years ago.  Russians are funny about public life.  The boys are both concerned about how "cold" Russians seem in public.  We've tried to get them to stop calling it "mean" as it really is just a different performance of self in public. There is no pressure to smile here at strangers.  There is also a tendency to speak quietly when outside, something we are NOT good at. So, we are often the loudest, weirdest, smiliest people on the street, just letting our American freak flag fly.  I have stopped being in any way embarrassed although I will not dare to speak for Volodya on that.  We went on a trip to the aquarium here and it was great fun.  The boys were impressed.  The fact is, most Russian museums for children are still sort of old school compared to those in America where "interactive" is old news and expected. The Aquarium and one other small science museum we found are exceptions. Clean, well lit, and planned, they were both a treat.

Volodya, sister Lena and Mama Ludmilla

We celebrated Easter with the family. Sadly, on Easter morning I badly scalded myself with boiling coffee in an accident involving a French Press and apparently too many coffee grounds.  The result was 2nd degree burns on chest, belly and wrist. Terrifying I must say.  All healing now but the wounds have been slow to mend in some spots.  Other than that, Easter was fun.  Russian's have, since the fall of Soviet Union, become more "religious". It's only in quotes because Volodya feels at least some of it is simply fashion, not a Great Awakening. But anyway, every other person wears a cross now, something that would have been "frowned upon" 20 years ago.   I want to visit the synagogue but am told its quite orthodox and for a woman alone it might be tricky. The Jewish story here is still something that deeply saddens me. 

our students at the Academy being weird

We have finished our class with the student group at the Academy except for an "Open Lecture/Demonstration" we will present to interested students and faculty on May 17th.  I have really enjoyed this group of students and their hunger for working in this new way.  I have fantasies of bringing them to America next summer for some cultural exchange with my UMN students.  They have so much to teach each other and I'd love to facilitate that kind of meeting. Indeed it was such an exchange that led me here in the first place so I know it's value first hand.

some of my class of faculty. Igor is far right

Zhenia, our babysitter!

a bridge near Nevsky Prospekt

The class with the faculty has been great but more difficult due to more entrenched habits in the teachers (of course) and a more varied skill set physically.  But there is a core group of them who have been amazing to meet. In fact, one of them, Igor will be playing Marinetti in our show in May (replacing the irreplaceable Stephen Pearce!).  He is a wonderful actor and physical Decroux trained performer.  Yesterday we went to his home for a "meeting" about the show. The meeting was mostly eating food he and his wife Olga (Growtowski trained performer) made for us, laughing at his stories of his army days in Siberia and hearing Igor play about 10 different instruments.  Privately, Russians are the most generous hosts I've ever encountered.  It was lovely and I look forward to working with him very much. The pressure of the festival grows as we look for instruments, lights, costumes etc and we are eager for our gang to get here, hopefully with all their luggage, computers, creativity and bodies in tact!

end of winter as Daniel plays

Ludmilla, intrepid administrator

 The bureaucracy has been startling as usual. Our new visas (they only last for three months...no good reason) had to be prepared and submitted THREE times by the administrator at the Academy, each time re-written in hand and signed by me.  One new policy about where to register was in existence for only one month...no way of knowing when these things happen unless you are unlucky enough to try to do business during that month! 

Sasha on tank with Russian flag

street dogs near our house

sasha thinking about war and peace

This post is too long and leaves out so much of course.  I'll leave you with photos of the pack of dogs who live on their own near our Metro stop, the Artillary museum of Weapons. 

And one video of sasha philosophizing on war and peace.


Russian word of the day:   мир. (Meer)  "Peace"

P.S. bonus photo of Peter Stein and Maria Klaus Bandauer (in wig) taking a bow at a (shhh, not very good) production during the European Theatre Prize Festival.  We saw three shows. Non very exciting...will see Uncle Vanya directed by Lev Dodin at the Maly Theatre in May which I am really looking forward to.

Mind the Gap

Mind the Gap. Sorry it's been so long....our internet went to "slooooowwwww" mode for several weeks. It took some leg work but Volodya fixed the problem so we're back.
To start off, I must document one sad bit of news. Volodya's father Sergei Rovinsky, died last week.  He was suffering from Parkinsons and the last few years had been very bad.  Volodya and his sister attended the funeral with Sergei's wife and family.  Volodya is fine and is glad his dad is now at peace.

lego birthday sign made by Sasha

blini eatin' at the BBQ party

On an oddly related note, we celebrated Volodya's birthday March 24 at his Mom's house then again two days later at our apartment with 6 of his friends.  It was fun to see everyone and especially cool to catch up with Anya who I worked together with on "The Meyerhold Project" when I was at Yale 1997-1999. She looks great and sends big love to anyone from the project I am in touch with (shout out to Yalies reading).

blini! how does she make them so THIN???

the "zakuska" for Volodya's birthday dinner

 

See photo of the food at the Rovinsky home and Ludmilla's four grandchildren all together (Sonya, Ignat, Daniel and Sasha). For those who didn't know, Ignat has been recovering from surgery, chemo and radiation to treat brain cancer and is doing amazingly well! He is truly a miracle. I adore this kid (now 21!) who has decided to become a social worker. He's in college now, only one year behind where he would have been.  He's really good with the boys as he speaks English and is just such a gentle and patient young man.

all four of Ludmilla's grandchildren in one place

We hosted a BBQ dinner at Baba Luda's last weekend.  The BBQ (I made ribs after Volodya hunted high and low for BBQ sauce) was a huge hit.  We are so happy we have corrupted them to be partial to the cooking of the Southern U.S.  While the ribs slow cooked, the boys ate blini (of course) made by Baba Luda. Because Blini go with everything, even BBQ.  I know I mention blini a lot...I'll work on adopting other interests.

sleds

sledding at the "bar hill" at night

Sledding,  Russian style means finding dangerous, old strips of plastic someone threw out to slide down hills in the nearby park. Here they are sledding at what we call "bar hill" because the "hill" is basically the roof of a bar.  The thumping base beat makes for good back ground to sledding.  Luckily this snow is old news. The melt is on. Sun every day and the dirty snow fades to memory. Unfortunately Russians are not in the habit of keeping public places clean. The streets are full of trash. But today and yesterday, all the detritus that the receding snow revealed was being cleaned by many many sanitation workers. So, I look forward to full on spring!

our neighborhood blini stand. "Teremok"

Iguan dance will be in festival too

We have artistic news.  We (Theatre Novi Most) will be performing our show M2:Mayakovsky and Marinetti at the Bodyword Festival here in May.   Three of the TNM gang, Dan Dukich, Julianna Drajko and David Steinman will join us from Minneapolis! We are so grateful to various last minute funding helpers for making their trips possible.  The festival is a "celebration of unusual forms of dance in connection with art and literature". As M2 is about Mayakovsky's writing and is certainly "unusual dance", it seems a perfect fit.  We'll be conducting workshops in physical improvisation for this international festival too.  The website is down right now but it's beautiful and can be found at www.bodyword.spb.ru
I think we perform May 19th, so tell all your Petersburg friends.

The State Theatre Academy, Makovaya St.

In teaching/academy news, we have begun the course with the teachers.  Academy web site  http://www.tart.spb.ru/).  They are a really dynamic group and eager for the exchange.  It's interesting to talk with them about teaching young actors and directors here. The challenges are so similar! Igor is a pantomime teacher (Decroux trained) and we spoke about the kids being "plugged in to computers and smart phones so much that they forget what real life and human contact feels like" and Acting teacher Lena talked to me about wanting kids to get out of their heads but finding they don't trust their bodies at first....sound familiar?  One difference:  I often ask "how did that exercise feel to you and what did you notice?" and then there is a pause during which I wait for a response. With both the teachers and the student group, people take a while to answer me at first, as if they are not sure I mean it-- is it rhetorical?  One teacher said "that's the first time a teacher actually asked me that and expected me to answer!" She was half joking but I think there is some truth in this.  The teacher as "Master" is a pervasive icon here.  The American notion of "everyone's opinion is valid" and "we are all artists!" is somewhat suspect. In part for good reason....quality is valued here and quality is elitist.  I am elitist in some ways so I get it. The student group is so wonderful! I will post photos of these talented, young, energetic, positive, hard working students soon. As our time together is only one day a week I am focusing only on improvisation. I'm not trying to build a performance so as not to take any time away from the training.  They are growing so quickly it is dazzling.

Maxim Gorky -- our Metro stop is "Gorkovskaya"

I've been thinking about the meaning of art.  A Russian dramaturg once said to me that she thinks democracy and freedom kill art because in a free society art is not needed in the same way.  It is not as urgent. It is no longer where one goes to see and hear the truth, even in metaphor (especially in metaphor!). I'm not sure I agree completely, but there is something to this.  I ponder.  Life is harder here, there is just no two ways about it.  But it's not like it was in Soviet days for sure. Not even like it was ten years ago even with the moves toward nationalism.  One friend, speaking of Russia now, said "yes, we have more malls but less freedom". So, is the art "urgent" now?  I don't know yet.  We are seeing a bunch of theatre next week when the European Prize Festival is in town. Peter Stein's piece is one I'm quite excited to see. We saw DEREVO a few weeks ago.  Artistically stunning, with some beautiful movement. It didn't add up to a satisfying whole for us but we loved the audience! They meet the actors so bravely here.  Acting is considered such a noble way to live and the audience seems to want to shower them with love and support. It's quite moving. Bows go on forever.....

We have been in planning stages for the upcoming season of work in Minneapolis (exciting plans for shows at the Southern, Playwrights Center and Children's Theatre) so my mind has been in two places....we have been here about 1/3 of our time already and there are days of being home sick.  We miss you all!
Please write us and keep us in your thoughts.

Bonus: Russian word of the day -- кухня (Kuknia) KITCHEN

on the couch/dinner chairs in Baba Luda's house

School Starts and Theatre Still Matters Here.

Gentle Reader:
This past week the boys both started school.  Aside from the obvious problem of making us get up early (why are we ALL so lame at this?), the reviews are mixed. Sasha is still waiting to see if it gets any "easier or more fun" and he says it has made him appreciate his FAIR School community back home more!  He is learning the complicated art of making friends across cultural barriers (note: humor translates last).  But the school is small and sweet and two of our neighbors Anatole and Lucien (sons of another American Fulbright couple Renee and Brian...so thankful they are here!) also attend.  Daniel is ecstatic about his new Montessori!  He can't wait to go every day and is comforted by the usual Montessori things ("Red Rods! Pink Tower!").  It is a lovely school and we are so grateful for Maria Montessori in Daniel's world.  Here are photos of the exterior of Sasha's school, the boys with Lucien, and Daniel doing "flag work" at his new school.

Sasha walks to school but to get Daniel each day to his, we take a "Marshutka" -- a shuttle van, and two Metro rides. It takes about 45 minutes.  He's a real trooper and both boys are getting so much stronger from all the walking!  City living... St. Petersburg has a population of about 5.5 million.  Minneapolis is about 380,000. So, yeah,  it's bigger here.  All of it.  Lots of walking around curving streets with a mix of old buildings from past centuries next to modern store fronts full of designer/expensive stuff. It's a strange juxtaposition. Kind of like living an episode of Dr. Who when times collide.  This is one of my favorite old buildings in our neighborhood.  The Metro is excellent, fast and efficient. The Metro stops are really beautiful too.

On the walk to Sashas school each day we pass the fire station. The fire fighters let Daniel go in the truck!

 The firefighters chopping at the ice on the sidewalk. Hard work...despite their macho exterior it seems the language of "boys and trucks' is universal and they immediately invited little Daniel inside.  His mother followed, muttering in Russia "thanks so much!" and trying not to scare them by smiling too much.

 The boys are both interested in models of things.  Medieval villages for Daniel and modern (WWII and later) Soviet and Russian submarines, tanks, planes etc for Sasha.  Epic battles happen all around our apartment all day as they dissolve the  time space continuum. Lisa feels quite outnumbered and alienated around all the boy energy (which includes a lot of snow ball fights...something she has NO interest in either) and is thinking about getting a hotel room.

Yesterday, oddly,  we went to see a Cat Show!  Volodya's school friend Ivor (pictured here after several drinks of cognac to celebrate his stunning cat's success) shows his cat "Matisse" regularly and invited us to come along. The boys LOVED seeing all the beautiful cats, hearing Ivor's "life lessons" about brothers loving and not hitting each other (ignored by boys), and the tea room snacks.









After the cat show (left... Lisa has fallen for "Matisse", a most fetching and handsome gentleman cat. The feeling seems mutual) we had a delicious dinner with Sonja, Volodya's daughter.






Volodya had all his children in one place. (No comment on which cultural wing of his offspring shows the most grace and promise....this photo shows there is no contest really).  Sonja is doing really well! Recovering like a champ from a very bad car accident just over a year ago and growing into a very talented artist and sculptor.  She makes her Papa proud. (See resemblance in photo below)



As for Lisa's work:  The teaching goes well. It is amazing to trade notions of what theatre is and what directors "do" with these young actors (they are between 18 and 23).  They are so used to an authoritarian model of the director/actor relationship which is deeply a part of the Russian tradition. They stand when the teacher enters the room and applaud after class (do you hear that UMN students??? They STAND for the MASTER... :)
I explain my notion of the actor and director as collaborators and creators of their own work....at first they needed clarification (perhaps they misunderstood the translation?) and then they break into huge smiles and excited applause. They are very eager to build a new piece directed by me and I am eager to do it as well. I am training them in physical theatre work as I practice it and am once again amazed by the power of what can happen when a group of people commit to the moment and play together.  Language falls away, unnecessary. I am impressed once again, by the incredible discipline and work ethic of the Russian actors. Their history of excellent art has been passed down.  This country still believes in Theatre.  That is a powerful statement.  The work I am seeing by the senior students is astonishing, brave, SKILLED and inspiring.  So, I am humbled and grateful to be exchanging artistic notions with these talented and passionate students. I will teach this group and then eventually, I will be training a group of faculty in my style of working. I look forward to trading techniques with them very much.  I hope to take away even one fifth of their passion and commitment.  As for Volodya, he is making several good connections for future directing work in Russia for himself and enjoying that prospect.  I note that there are absolutely no women on faculty in major teaching positions here.  It is shocking to this American feminist.  Russia is behind America in this regard -- Women as directors is mostly a new idea and not one that all folks can comprehend. I realize I'm possibly a bit of a freak show, ambassador or canary in coal mine...not sure which.

We have not had time to see any professional performances yet. We will most certainly.  We will be seeing DEREVO next week in their new show "Mephisto's Waltz" and are looking forward to it.

Spring has sent her first messengers.  Two crows build a nest in our courtyard outside our kitchen window. Daniel and I watch them and time slows down. The melted ice and snow rains down from the tops of the 19th century curved roofs as we walk by.  We look forward to the full thaw.










Our apartment building and front door in the sun.

Lisa in the sunlight. Note: the cocky stance is the effects of a day when she actually ordered food in Russian, paid for it herself with the "monopoly money" (she still doesn't fully grasp the exchange rate) and carried on a conversation with some minor sense of dignity.  Mostly Lisa is silent and passive in Russia, still annoying dependent and clueless.  She reads, marvels and ponders.












Thanks for reading.
Extra Credit:  Russia word of the day:  Весной (Vesnoy) SPRING

Day Seven: On Board the Aurora Battle Ship

Daniel trying out the head gear onboard the battleship Aurora!

Greeting from St. Petersburg.

March 9, 2011.  Today we strolled to Sasha's new school, the Anglo American School of St. Petersburg  http://www.aas.ru/stpetersburg.cfm which is TINY compared to FAIR school in Minneapolis.  There are 12 kids in the 4th grade with one nice teacher named Mr. Toth. All instruction is in English and Sasha will be in a class with kids from Holland, South Korea, Bulgaria and Russia.  It's a mini U.N.   More on this next week. Both boys will begin school on Monday and tomorrow we will check out Daniel's new Montessori.

  It has been a very exhausting week since we arrived but we are getting to know the neighborhood. Our apartment is great (Daniel pictured above with lego collection, the one thing we brought in the way of toys). Big by Russian standards with two bedrooms, a living room, hall and kitchen and with gorgeous huge windows that overlook a view of The Peter and Paul Fortress -- the gold domes in picture here.

The city is beautiful and quite European in style and feel.  It's expensive and people are very kind and nice.  Lisa has no idea where she is most of the time, blindly following Volodya around as he silently and masterfully leads us through the majestic landscape of his childhood (there are palaces and gardens everywhere you spit) Lisa who was last here 9 years ago, does what she is told and only occasionally is heard to mutter something like "oh...the circus. I recognize this place....wait, that's the Neva? Where am I??  Wait up!....can we stop for Coffee?  How do you pronounce that street? Oh my god that building is amazing what is it?? Sasha don't run ahead!!!" We are all resting a lot this week and have been to Volodya's family home several times already to eat his mothers Blini and other delicious food and vodka.  "Baba Luda" (Grandma Luda) has never met Daniel and last saw Sasha when he was four so they are being eaten alive with love.  The boys are both crazy for Blini! These are thin Russia crepes with a number of filling options.  There is a blini stand (chain called TERMOK) near out house and we go nearly every day.  Lisa eats her weight each day in black bread and pelmini (Russian dumplings) so expects to return to America obese-ish. Luckily we walk a HUGE amount every day so at least we are working our musculature.

Here is the view from our balcony looking out on our street in a snow storm at night.  You can see the corner wine shop in the photo which gives Lisa much comfort as it is open 24 hours.  The snow is really beautiful here, wet and big and excellent for building and sculpting with.  The boys have spent many hours outside in the nearby Alexander Park (perfect as that is Sashas name) which is our "Central Park". 

After visiting the school today we strolled to the banks of the Neva where the Aurora Battleship is "parked". It was amazing to see and particularly interesting that there was no charge to go on board and look around.  Following are some photos of the ship including Lisa surrendering to the enemy, the deck of the ship and a sleeping and eating area recreation. 

Lisa had to explain how the Soviet Union and America were once enemies to the boys.  Sasha looked sceptically at her and scowled as he pointed out that we both fought the Nazi's together. Hence a history lesson right on the deck of the Aurora, the ship that signaled the start of the revolution in Russia.  Amazing that they have no idea about the fear and horror of the Cold War days, which both their parents remember so well from the two sides of the story.  We each had our own version of "Duck and Cover" growing up.

Sasha is trying to decide whether to buy "a knife, a sword or a gun" here.  Nice.
Here he is trying out a Soviet sword for sale.  The amount of Soviet kitch and genuine artifacts for sale is staggering (put your orders in now folks...it's all really cool).  As for Daniel, he is saving the kopeks he finds on the Metro floor to buy a Matrewshka. 

The boys have picked up some Russian from the family and today purchased books to learn how to write. Lisa will need to begin reading Tennessee Williams tomorrow as she is being asked to "coach" Russian actors who are working on Streetcar and Summer and Smoke.  She is uncertain how to help them except to teach them how to drink whiskey.  By way of procrastination, Lisa has been reading the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and is now onto the next book in the series (in case you were worried that her mind is not active with things weighty and literary).  We have no TV or access to American Hulu, Netflix etc. Nothing streams here.  So, it's a media free lifestyle.  Books are therefore precious.
Lisa has also started teaching at the Academy. She is teaching a version of her class "Creating the Performance" to them including a lot of physical improvisation. Volodya is her translator/co-teacher.  All that is fine.

Finally, we leave you with these lovely gift shop pictures of the leaders of Russia, Putin on the left, Medvedev on the Right. Perhaps the relative size is irrelevant???

We hope this finds you all happy and healthy.  Check in with us when you can!
We will try to post at least weekly....

Oh almost forgot! Today we met with three Minneapolis friends here for a week!  Lisa and Lisa of Linkvostok and Charles from Skewed Visions.  Charles was kind enough to bring Tennessee Williams in English for Lisa.  We will hang out more while they are here this week.  Here we are outside "Dom Kniga"  (House of Books) on Nevsky Prospekt (the big main street of the city) where Lisa bought the novel The Girl who Played with Fire (not Tennessee Williams...) and a map of the city with which she hopes to become less clueless, dependent and annoying.

Paka!
L, V, S and D
*Bonus: Russian word for the day --  сумасшедший (sumasshedshiĭ)  Means "CRAZY"