It's a rainy Sunday morning here in Moscow, and I'm spending the day transitioning from student to tourist. We completed our last classes yesterday, and though it sounds cliche, I can't believe how quickly it all went by! I'm glad that I came here at this point in my career/education, because although it's different for everyone, I really feel like I was able to grasp the majority of the training. I feel very lucky to have had this opportunity to meet the amazing faculty here at the school and get a sense of the training style behind Russian acting. One more chapter of my own training complete and I'm excited to meet the challenge of applying so much of the training technique to my work back in The States. I think I saw my last few shows that I will see here already this week, including the Togonka Theatre's production of Ionesco's "Rhinoceros", and the Satiricon's always impressive production of King Lear. Last night a couple courageous souls joined me to try to brave a student rush line at The Bolshoi to see a ballet of "Don Quixote". Ballet at The Bolshoi! Duh! Unfortunately, we were ill-informed about a lottery list system and missed out on the student prices. When we found out that the cheapest tickets available were 2000 rubles (about $70), we decided to forfeit the endeavor, all dressed up with nowhere to go... except for back to the dorms to have some end of class celebratory drinks! As for the last week of the trip, I finally get to be a tourist! Tonight I leave on an overnight sleeper train (which is exciting in and of itself for me!) to end up in St. Petersburg early tomorrow morning. We will be visiting The Hermitage - I already bought extra camera batteries-, Pushkin Village and Catherine the Great's summer palace, and we will be taking a bus tour of the city. There will also be extra free time to explore at will, and I think I may look into a boat tour through the Venice-like canals of the city. Also, we will be there during the White Nights Festival, which basically means that it's only dark for maybe 1 or 2 hours at night... charming:) Until I'm sleepy and aggravated:) I also look forward to just having time to take in the wonder of this ancient, history-rich country. Seven days and counting... gotta make the most of it!
Man you've seen a lot of Shakespeare! And Don Quixote is a love of the Russian people I think. Sergei mentioned it on more than one occasion and we saw a student production loosely based on the story.
ReplyDeleteGlad you get to go see Peterov! That's where camera ninjaing was born. Camera Ninja is a game where you try to take a picture of things you shouldn't or aren't allowed to take pictures of. If you successfully do this without getting caught, by the people working at Peterov, you whisper "Camera Ninja" to someone and you win.
This evolved then into taking a picture of one of your classmates without them seeing you. Snap the picture and then show them later while whispering "Camera Ninja."
MASTER Camera Ninja is the aspiration of every Camera Ninja young and old. To become a Master Camera Ninja, one must take a picture of one of the people working at the museum, showing it to someone in your group, and whispering "Master Camera Ninja."
SUPER MASTER Camera Ninja is to do the same, but to take the picture of the museum worker WHILE they're telling you not to take pictures.
Note: This may lead to you getting pulled into a back room under a Pyramid and having to bribe a military officer to keep from being arrested. Or at least, that's my experience.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're getting some time to just be a tourist and see all there is to see. Live it up sista'!