Русский музей и Лебединое Озеро (Russian Museum and Swan Lake)

        Privyet!! Kak oo vas dela? (How are you doing?) I’m pretty good, but quite busy!  My schoolwork has been picking up, which is kind of odd to be honest.  It feels sort of surreal to be sitting on my bed IN RUSSIA reading articles about political economy just like I’m back at school in my dorm room.  Life takes you strange places sometimes…

       Oh, my host mother DID return, by the way, with just as little explanation as she gave when she left!  All I know was that she “had business” and it was “very terrible”.  Very interesting… Now there is ample food in the apartment once more though, which is always a good thing. 

       Yesterday I had quite a day.  It started with Russian class, followed by a quick lunch and a mad metro ride/walk over to the Russian Museum…and ended with “Swan Lake” at the Mariinsky Theatre!

       Unlike the Hermitage, the Russian Museum focuses solely on Russian art.  (You probably NEVER could have guessed that, right?) It was organized chronologically, but for some reason the rooms were set up in an incredibly confusing manner.  For example, you would walk through rooms 22-26, only to find that walking through the door would get you to room 38, and to reach 27 you had to backtrack, go down the stairs, and around a corner to the left.  Don’t follow those instructions, the numbers are random.  But you get the idea. 

       The first part of the room focused on religious icons, mostly from the 13th and 14th century.  Though I didn’t take any pictures in the museum, here’s a googled example of one icon I especially liked.  It’s of St. George, by the way. 

                                 

            Progressing through the museum, it was fascinating to see how Russian art changed in both style and subject matter over the years.  I really enjoyed that approach to museum curation.  I actually wrote down names of painters and paintings I loved, something I’ll definitely do on future museum visits.  Unfortunately, by the end we were practically sprinting through the halls because of a time crunch, but it was an enjoyable visit nonetheless. 

            Then I popped on the metro again to run to my friend’s homestay to pick up her ballet ticket.  It was really fun to see where she’s living, because she was lucky enough to end up with a family of artsy hippies!  This is a demographic that seems to be rather underrepresented in Russia, so I was amazed to see a gorgeous apartment filled with art, chimes, natural objects, and Indian symbols.  After that little jaunt, we hopped on a bus and went BACK across the city to MY homestay to quickly get ready for the ballet.  Of course we were running late anyways. 

            Going to the ballet we faced a choice.  Basically it came down to this – we could embrace Russia, or we could stick to our American roots.  And this time, the good old US of A won out big time.  You see, we were wearing dresses to the ballet, and high heels as well.  If we were  Russian women, we would have worn the heels all the way there.  But that involved a 20 minute walk, navigating several crowded subway stations, and another 20 minute walk…just to get there.  The sidewalks here are very uneven, the subway floor is slippery, and we are wimpy, terrible at walking in heels, and fond of excuses.  So like true American tourists, we put sneakers on with our dresses and brought our heels in a bag to put on right before we crossed the street to the ballet!  Embarrassing, I know.  But it was a comfortable journey, even if we did get a few stares…

          Oh, and I promise I WILL put up a picture of this absurdity eventually, once I get my hands on the one my friend took. 

          The ballet started at 7, and we got there in time to take a few pictures of the Mariisky Theatre before the performance started.  This is NOT the same as the place I went to the symphony – that was the brand new Mariinsky Concert Hall, while the ballet was in the old, beautiful, and very Phantom of the Opera-ish Mariinsky Theatre.  Those of you familiar with my deep and abiding love for the Phantom of the Opera can imagine how much I enjoyed simply being in this gorgeous building.  Oh, and we also had the chance to rent opera glasses for the performance for about $1.50 – of course I jumped on that!  It made me feel even more like I was a member of the 19th century aristocracy.  Have you guys realized by now that I spend a LOT of time daydreaming when I’m in these historical places? 

       

 

                                

            The ballet was absolutely magnificent.  I was absolutely privileged to be able to see one of the finest ballet companies in the world – and this for a girl who spent her childhood dancing around in front of a VHS of “The Nutcracker”!  The precision and power of the dancers was truly breathtaking.  They created such graceful lines and shapes with their bodies…I do admit, however, that I couldn’t help but think about how the ballerinas look lovely but have disgusting feet hidden beneath their toe shoes.  And they probably haven’t eaten a sandwich in the past ten years. 

             Despite the dark side that I know lurks beneath the beauty of the ballet, I was stunned by the grace and athleticism that was displayed.  Words really can’t describe it…

            Lisa, for your sake I’ll mention that the best male dancer was the character of the jester! He made me think of you of course.

            The music was also wonderful, and it’s great to think that for the rest of my life, whenever I hear the familiar strains of “Swan Lake”, I will remember my night at the ballet in St. Petersburg. 

            It was surprisingly long.  There was one intermission at 8:45, and then at 9:30 the curtains went down again and my friend and I thought the show was over.  Except no one was leaving…and the story hadn’t exactly seemed to have ended…it was actually another intermission, and the performance didn’t end until 10:15!  It was an impressive display of endurance on the part of the dancers, that’s for sure.

            In the interests of narcissism the blog, I had my friend take a couple of pictures of me posing in the theatre.         

              

                                    

              You can’t see them, but I swear I AM wearing heels there!

              It looks like there’s a busy weekend ahead, so I’ll hopefully be back within a couple of days with some more pictures and stories! 

             As always, stay well and keep in touch. 

 

From Russia With Love,

Rachel

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