Russia! (Friday, May 7 – Tuesday, May 11)
Tuesday May 11, 2010
Today another four hour drive back to Volgograd. I love the immensity of the steppes, the sense of possibilities as infinite as the land, which was green and in bloom–spring has arrived.
Back in Volgograd, a delicious steak lunch with Elena Mischenko, the Director of the Agency of Cultural Initiatives for the Administration of the Volgograd Region, Elena Sobinova, the Head of International Relations of the Volgograd Regional Committee for Cultural Affairs, and at the end, Natalya Kozichuk, Coordinator of the American Corner in Volgograd joined us as well. I had gotten to know them during the roundtables–they had put in a lot of work to make this event happen, and had done an excellent job. This lunch was an opportunity for serious discussion about working together and possible projects. I must say, it was one of the most exciting lunches I’ve had in a long time–stay tuned!
Monday May 10, 2010
When I got the invitation to participate in this roundtable, I let everyone on my mailing list know I was coming to Russia, and asked if they wanted to meet. The upshot–today the Artistic Director of the Kalmyk State Dance Theatre “Oiraty” in Alista (the capital of the region of Kalmykia) sent a car and driver for me to meet with them, see the theater, and explore ways in which we can work together. The Kalmyks are Mongols and as I mentioned earlier, it’s the only region in Europe that has a Buddhist majority. It’s about 3-4 hours drive from here across the vast Russian steppes. People here in Volgograd have told me it’s like a different world, very different indeed from the rest of Russia. They were certainly right.
I did get to attend a performance by the Kalmyk State Dance Theatre “Oiraty.” Although nothing came of this trip in a business sense, it was an opportunity to see something quite different and have a very interesting and enjoyable late dinner with the director.
Sunday May 9, 2010
Sunday morning we went to the ceremonies in the main square of Volgograd for the parade of heroes, as it was called, with marching troops and heavy weapons, and again the veterans as guests of honor. It’s not often I get to see tanks!
In the afternoon, a concert by the Volgograd Philharmonic of Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony, with film clips from the siege shown on a backdrop. To see the grim realities of the two-year battle, and then to realize that the soldiers seen on the newsclips were in the audience made it an especially moving experience.
But we did have very good discussions in the round tables too, as they are looking for advice on creating festivals and developing audiences. There were several Cossacks in the discussion who proposed a Cossack festival–I suggested they change it by broadening it to a celebration of the horse, as the Cossacks were Russia’s most famous mounted troops. The upshot? I may be coproducing a festival, for which I suggested the title (in English) of Gallop!, bringing different international participants every year–Crow Indian horsemen one year, Mongols another, etc.
And Sunday evening was a very elegant dinner–even red caviar!–on a cruise ship on the Volga. Much toasting and drinking, vodka flowing like water, as the celebrations on the river bank continued, culminating again in a spectacular fireworks display.
Saturday May 8, 2010
The first session of the roundtable took place Saturday morning, and that afternoon we went to the first of the ceremonies commemorating the siege of Stalingrad, held on Mamayaev Hill with its massive statue of Mother Russia (taller than the Statue of Liberty), which was erected after the war to honor the hundreds of thousands who died here. We got VIP seats and the commemoration was very powerful, a modern dance piece choreographed with soldiers and children as well as dancers, with film clips from the siege. The guests of honor, of course, were the surviving veterans, men and women with chests full of medals and ribbons, and young people giving them flowers. It started to pour and we were soaked, but nobody left–very moving indeed and then a massive display of fireworks. Wow!
Friday May 7, 2010
17 hours flying time Albuquerque/DC/Moscow/Volgograd but here I am in Volgograd. Whew! I had been invited (and funded from the Russian side) to participate in the “International Round-Table Discussion–The Role and Significance of Cultural Events for the Development of a Territory” as part of a first annual festival here which is part of the long-standing tradition of honoring and commemorating Volgograd (or Stalingrad as it was known in WWII) and its heroic and tragic two-year resistance to German siege, which ultimately broke Germany’s power. The first event was an elegant dinner, and the group is very cosmopolitan, with city and regional cultural and economic officials, and cultural workers from England, Canada, India, Egypt and more–and me.