14/12

Today was a beautiful Sunday. I woke up and went Ice skating at Red square. It was beautiful ice skating while it snowed in moscow, I love skating any where but in with Saint-Basils on one side, the Kremlin on the other and in between them Lenin, it was absolutly incredible. We then went and warmed up with some mulled wine and Hannah and I went shoping!!!!! I didn't find what I wanted yet but I have a few more places to look so I'm sure I will find something very Moscow chic. I start finals tomorrow and I'm up to late as it is. I will be home sooner then I can imagine.
love you all,
Kirsten

8/12

Another quick update...

work work work! Got to love it. It is going well we started classes today at 9am instead of10 and we have rehearsal every night!!!!!

Love you
Kirsten

4/12

a quick update...

I saw an amazing show last night. King Lear done by the same person who did Richard III and Hamlet, and now it is tied with Hamlet as my favorite show I have seen it was amazing. What I loved so much about it was that every charater was good and bad and their own person. Typically some of the charcters especially the sisters, yet everyone had their individual history. I aslo really liked that all of the sisters were close and loved eachother and their father. I made their deaths so powerful. The end was so powerful they had three piano's and each sister was sitting at the stool huched over. Then Lear walked over and tried to lift each one up yet they kept slumping over on the keys and falling off the stools and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't keep them up.

Everything else is going well. I'm working so hard. My body is falling apart I have a twisted ankle bumb knee, pulled, hamstring and almost useless arms, at the moment. I really hope I pull myself together- although I did three back bends by myself today it felt really goos because I have'nt been able to do it. otherwise just working and trying to see all of the things I want to see. I'm ready to sleep for days but will be unable to... hopefully I have the engery t opush through the next to weeks. Thats my biggest challenge pushing through my tiredness. I love every moment still.
Love you all
Kirsten

1/12

Oh my gosh its December! We have so much to do. We have 16 days until finals!!!!! I'm not ready yet. Everything here is going well, minus the pain and torture that our teachers are putting us through to be ready for our final. Sunday night we went to the State circus and I left half way through their is only one other show I have done that with while I've been here. It was a draining experience. The animals were very thin and looked heart broken. Some of the handlers were nice but some of them were harsh even infront of people. The "actors" had less energy then we did falling asleep in our seats. Their smiles were forced and they messed up quite a bit. The kids aroud us seemed to enjoy it but it was not something I enjoyed.
Last night we went to the Ballet "Giselle" at the Stanislavsky Opera House. It was better then we expected. The Prima was not my favorite she kept falling out of her turns, she made very jerky movements, her arms were akward and her acting was awefull even for a ballet. the Primo was alright but he as well was trying to hard and his movements were forced. their were two amazing dancers though a young boy about 15 who did a solo and the angel. The Peasent boy was an incredible jumper, he litterally floated and his beats on his jumps were very precise and clean. The Angel was spot on. Everything she did was graceful prestine and graceful; I was suprised that she wasn't the lead because she was clearly a better dancer. I enjoyed it though.
I am as aways just pushing through trying to survive the week but I'm tired, I get to sleep in tomorrow though I'm incredibly excited but I still have all sorts of work to do tonight and I have a paper due saturday and another one monday. Always something else to do. Rehearsal for each preformance have gone up to every night so even though I have finished classes I have much more work to do. I love you all and will be home sooner then you think
Love
Kirsten

29/11

It has been a while since I wrote, its been a hecktic week. Finals are coming up and all of us are just trying to survive. I had a bit of a bipolar week. While my acting is going really well and I feel like I'm really getting some where in my class I had a really hard event happen this week.
On Wednesday I went to get out money and I couldn't find my bank card. I came home and looked on line and found out it had been stolen on Monday and I had lost $660. We figured out that it was most likely either while I was in class from the american studio or while I was in the dorm in someone elses room. I called my bank and hopefully the money will be replaced, the hard thing is that it was most likely another student american or russian because they are the only people who have access to those spaces. I also am without money because my bank can't send me a card in russia so I have to figure out how to wire money, which I am working on. Hopefully everything will work out.
Thankgiving on the other hand was really fun. My friends Kenya, Lizzie and I started cooking at 12:30 and cooked until 6:30. We cooked meat and mash potatoes for 50 people. Turkeys aren't available in Russia except from the US Embassy and we are poor college students we can't afford that. But we had a magnificent roast and Kenya being from the south made fried chicken which was unbelievable. I made the mash potatoes and apple crisp (thanks Libby!). Everyone else brought salads and side dishes. We had wine and apple cidar and all sat and talked and were together. Even Tolya came. He made a beautiful toast to our freedom as a country and our freedom as people, every time he speaks he amaze me at the depth of his passion.
Friday night was very emotionally charged for me. We saw a play called "the Pillowman" it was literally brilliant but it was one of the most horrific moments of my life. The acting was brilliant even in Russian it translated completley. The story of the play is hard in itself; an author who writes murder stories about children and all the stories are coming true and they suspect him. He has a younger disabled brother who they are holding to get answers out him. You find out the brother is disabled because he was tortured by their parents as a child for an experiment. the play contiues torture, brutal, muders and death, I don't want to give a way what happens but it something that everyone should see, but it shook me to my core. It was amazing theater, one of my favorite pieces ever; I loved it and wanted to run out of the theater. It is exactly what I think theater should do.
Time is slowly slipping through my fingers and I'm trying to get as much done as I can with the little time I have left. I love you all and will be home soon,
Love
Kirsten

23/11

This weekend has been very filled with theater. Saturday night we went to see the cherry Orchard at MXT. It was good, the woman who played Charlotta was good and the two daughters but the lead was weak and some of the charcters weren't well developed. The stage though was really neat. When we took a tour fo the stage we saw them putting up this production. The way it works is on some kind of incredible mechanical device they put pieces of the curtain. When it is closed it looks like one piece of fabric. It then opens like a book and the pieces of curtaincan move and change to create different looks. The stage is also rotating so furniter and people move in and out very fluidly. Toight we saw Wvocheck the Opera at the Bloshoi and I have to say I was a bit disapointed. The set was also amazing it was a full bar that transitioned to 9 square apartments. The set was changed by moving panals like a square iris focusing. The singing was ok although the lead was from america, Russians aren't nessarily know for their singing. the good parts were I could read a few of the subtitles, the pit was filled with emotion they were amazing, and it was a dress rehearsal so we entered through the stage door and walked through the dressing rooms and stage to reach our amazing seats. Otherwise I've just been working really hard. My body is still sore and about to get more sore this week but we can't stop we have so little time left. We went to a flee market today to buy presents and I was very proud of my hagling skills. Hopefully you all like what I bring back.
Love
Kirsten

19/11

Last night I saw an unbelivable production by the same director who di Daemon called Opus 7. It was a two part show. The first was about the directors family, his heritage and there disaperence durring the Holocaust. It was done through a Chorus singing different songs while moving and forming different parts of the history. My favorite part was they took buckets of paint and threw them on the cardboardwall and from the splatter they created the Jews. They then took a knife and cut around the upper half of their body. They were then backlit as the paintings had a glowing circle of light around them; then the bodies fell and the center and all these ripped up news paper clipings came flying out everywhere. This led into what I think was the news of the holocaust as picture of Jews flased againts the walls. The second part was about a Russian compser during the stalin era, who barely escaped with his life but was the pride of Russia. To composer was played by this woman who has a beautiful soprano voice and was the lead in Daemon as well. The composer was just a child when he began and was quite young while he was being hunted by stalin. Russia was represnted by a giant woman puppet. Who started with the composer teaching him how the play the piano, as the woman climbed and painted and tipped over a wooden sturcture of a piano. Then the puppet was given a hat a gun and pictures of famous poets, actors, and artists of the time were brought out. One by one they were all shot except for the composer who ran away and barely escaped. It ended with the composer on display for everyone as the Puppet came back again as Mother Russia and embraced him. It was really amazing the woman was fearless she was doing the most amazing things with her body climing up things and working with the other cast members she had unbeivable control. I had so much fun and it was really mentally stimulating which I think is amazing when theater can do that.
I will try to finish a little bit about Petersberg although it'll be quick. The picture will be easier to tell the story with. I don't remeber what I said about the Summer Palace but it was beautiful. The summer palace is mainly about the archetecture. It was built for Catherine the Great and was mainly constructed in the Baroque style, although part of the palace which was done by her son in a later style but I can't rember what it is called. The rooms are all beautiful gold is everywhere and hand painted tiles and dining sets. The ball room litterally glitters. The most famous part of the Palace is the Amber room. I don't have any pictures because they are very strict about photos there. It is one of Russia's crowning joys which was a gift from the Germans, all the wall panals are made of pure amber of colors ranging from bright yellow to deep red, it is a magnificint work of art. The sad thing about the winter palace is that most of it is not original. When the Natzis invaded Russia they were headed toward Petersberg and they set up fort at the summer palace. As the Russians though closed in the Natzis knew that they couldn't hold their position so they burned the palace diminishing the main building and one of the winds to rubble. Luckly some things were saved by the musuem workers who as the Natzis approach shipped as much as they could of to Siberia. One of the things destroyed was the Amber room, the Natzis ripped the amber slabs of the wall and either destroyed them or hid them somewhere in Germany. The Russians never tracked them down, it was one of the most expensive projects completely recreating the amber slabs exactly as they had been before.
Probably the most moving place I saw was Saint Peter and Pauls catherdral in the fortress. I have never been to one of the grand catherdrals in Europe, this was my first one and it was completely overwhelming. Peter the Great built it for he, his family, and future rulers final resting place and it was stuning. Painting on the cealings, the tomb of Peter and alter that could not be desribed in words or shown in picture. The artist created a complex scene or sculpture I don't know how to describe it in gold, you could stand for hours and never get bored. We heard a choir sing; in the seagull there is a line by Nina,"My heart is overflowing with you." I didn't understand what it ment until I was this. The room filled your sould with a energy that moved you to tears. It was the true meaing of beauty.
Everything else is still going really well. We have been kicked into high gear in order to make the most of are 4 1/2 weeks left. My body is very sore but very happy. Still so much work to do.
Love
Kirsten

17/11

Oh I feel so bad I haven't written in quite a few days. I have just been caught up in everything here. I have a lot of work right now. No matter what I do there is always something else for me to do. I have grown to love my scene more and more, my partners are great and I'm learning so much about myself through the character which is exactly what you want. I do have to go to bed but a quick update on my world here. I saw Beauty and the Beast in Russian the musical. It was fun which is exactly what it is suppossed to be. I also saw a beautiful production called Daemon. We had to watch from the cat walks but it completely kept my attention. There were no words it was all like an art piece. The stage was covered tin mutiple layers of paper and each scene- although they weren't scenes more like images, ideas, thouhts- was painted on to the stage. The space is self was a circular tower and the staged lowered itself down to the bottom so we were all no matter where you were sitting looking from above. To me it was the story of life, to others it was individual scenes, either way it was a beautiful moving piece of theater. Last night I saw a piece called Carmen, which was a student modern dance piece based on the Opera. It was really good, I enjoyed it alot. The dancing was definitly modern, it was a movement pased piece where one action would triger another reaction in both your body and your partners. I'm always interested how these types of pieces are built, whether it comes mainly from choreography or improve.
I still have plans to finish about Petersberg I just haven't gotten there yet. Its on my list for tomorrow
My shoulders are doing a little better but I still have to numb them every night. We added handstands to our lists of tricks so they are even more important. My body hurts though my ballet teacher added a duet for my friend Liz and I to do and it is really hard lots of turns and lots of balance so my core is being very worked. I love it though. Still everyday I walk home from school and I'm so happy about every sore muscle and special pleasure I'm experincing. I do miss you all though and while I don't feel like I have enough time left I want to see you.
Hope all is well in the states!!!
Love
Kirsten

14/11

I have been sick for the past few days and was in bed pretty much all day yesterday. I'm still forced to be at home but I'm no longer confined to my bed. It is nothing serious just a really nasty cold. So while I'm sitting in the dorm very lonely I will try to write about some more about Saint Petersberg. There are three places in particular that took my breath away and I will probably never forget. The winter palace/ Hermatage, th summer palace and Saint Peter and Pauls cathedral.

The Winter Palace was built by I belive Peter the Great and just as a piece of archetecture it is incredible. The first part of the hall is the grand stair case. I've never wanted to have a ball gown on more in my life. Huge chandiliers, painted vaulted cielings, red velvet carpet, gold plating everywhere marble handrails, every little girls fantasy. then the ball room white marble and gold, a single expansive room that glitters even with out the sun which rarely come out in Petersberg. Each room after that is a part of the hermatage art gallery. One of the greatest collections of great painters from Davinci to picasso in the world. The rooms themselves are painted tributes to the time, with painters imported and trained in Italy and france to paint wall after wall and cieling after cieling in beautiful murals. To see the whole of the hermatages gallery, just to look at them for a second each would take 7 days to see them all which after being there I completly understand. There where very famous painters from the renissance and before but I'm not very familiar. I did see 2 out of the 12 DaVinci in the world, I think a Michalagelo and I can't think of the others right now but all of the big names. My favorite galleries where the impressionism and Post impressionism, I believe these are the correct terms. I saw paintings by Cezanne, Monet (my personal favorite), Renoir, Delacroix, Signac, Van Gogh, Matisse, and Picasso. It truly was the most diverse and famous collection of art. To be honest I think that I need to visit again. There was so much to take in I don't think I absorbed evy 1/8th of what I saw. I tried to take it in but I could barely keep up with the tour guide each painting, sculpture, bowl, statue was so intracate and amazing that you could have stood in one room for the entire 2 hour tour and have stayed intrigued. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.
Unfortunatly the computer is wearing me out so back to bed for a nap before acting. It is at the dorm so I'm going to try to go for a little. I will probably have more time later to write since I will be stuck at home all evening.
The time is going so fast I will be seeing you all soon
Love
Kirsten

9/11

We arrived back from Petersberg just afew hours ago very sleep deprived and sore but well worth it. I have to leave for class in a little bit but I wanted to start what will take me a few days to get down everything I saw and flet. First off I would say that EVERYONE should try at some point in their life to go to Saint-Petersberg, if you need a tour guide I would be happy to take you. I love Moscow and I think as a place to live I would move here in a heart beat but for beauty and tourism Petersberg is the place to be. I wish I had more time now to describe everything but Just a breif overview of our trip. We left Moscow around 11 in a overnight train. It had beds but they weren't that comfortable. and qwe arrived at our hostel around 8 nap breakfast and then on the bus for a tour. Our first stop was a Catherdaral it was the first of three we saw. We were allowed to enter while the mass was going on. It was so beautiful, the congragets singing, the decore, it took my breath away. Our next stop was another catherdal at a square I can't remember the name, that was dedicated to I belive Peter the great but I could be wrong. Our bus tour conitued the bridge where ships come. The next stop was a fortress and inside the fortress was Saint. Peters Cathedral where the Ztsar starting with Peter are burried. This was one of my favorite places but more later. Next was the Winter Palace and the Hermatage, again more on that later I need a day to put in to words the beauty and emotion these places stirred. After that we had free time, took another nap and then went out to a mexican restraunt with some friends. We stayed there for a while, they hade great music, ok food, and great Margaritas. We thought then we were going to go dancing but the club wasn't very good so instead we went for a walk and it was beautiful. Sunday we had breakfast and got on the bus to go to the Summer palace. Which isn't as grand as the Winter palace but was still beautiful with amazing gardens, it was a winter wonderland. After that we had a lot of free time so I went with a few friends to a great cafe and had an amazing lunch, then went shopping. It was so much fun. That night we saw Hamlet done by the forth years of the acting school in Petersberg and then got aucp of coffee before getting back on the train and waking up in Moscow at 8. That is all I can do for now I will try to write more and put up some pictures in the next couple days.
Love you all
Kirsten

11/6

IT SNOWED!!!! It is os beautiful. We leave for Saint Petersberg in an hour I'm all packed I'm worried I'm going to freeze but hopefully not. My news today I got my right splits and a back bend!!!!!
Love you all
Kirsten

11/3

Today has been one interesting day...
Like I said beofre today was a random day off for us so we went shopping. We went to this huge mall and I was so much fun. I bought myself a little black dress which needs just a touch of tailoring because of the wieght I've lost, a really cute Zebraish top, a gray sweater and a waist belt. They are all so cute! At the last store we were at I sat down with all of our stuff. As we were going to leave I realized that I couldn't find my purse. I looked everywhere but I know I had it. So we assumed it was stolen and I left a number for them to call if it was found. So I came home- side note I have to say I was very proud of myself because I stayed unbelievably calm- to cancel my credit card. I couldn't figure out how to do it online so I was going to call mom when my friend came and said that the dorm saw called by the studio because the thrid floor cleaning had found my purse in the bathroom. I had a russian speaker find out how to find my cleaning lady friend Masha- who had also lost her purse and wanted to return mine to me so I didn't feel like her- and went back to the mall and got my purse. All of my money was gone but my ID's, papers and credit card were all there. I lost about $300 because I got out money for Petersberg but I was really lucky I got my purse back. So basically I got adorable cloths and lost my purse then got it back. The lesson of this is: I need to buy a new larger purse that can't be swiped!

The rest of my week has been really good. My scene is going well and I started my monlouge that I'm going to do for our final I think either way it'll be good to have for auditions. I saw a musical last night done by the 4th years. The acting was good but Russian singers can't sing like americans do. My shoulder is feeling better I've been on rest but will go back to stregthening tomorrow, which I'm very happy about. I'm just waiting for Petersberg, it will be amazing!!!!!!
Love you all
Kirsten

1/11

November!!!!
I can't belive the month has gone by so fast. Halloween was alot of fun I think some friends have pictures so I will try to get them posted my hip hop character was a great success and I did a very good job staying in character (I think I danced off all the calories I consumed on halloween).

Yesterday before the party I saw probalby my second favorite piece of theater, Richard III (Shakespeare). I was directed by the same man who direct Hamlet- my favorite. The show was stunnning the visual imput was emotionally enthrawling. They used Shadows as part of the scenery which added so much. Also each of the deaths was unique. The hit man would come on stage and they would be holding wine or a news paper and their victime would be in white and they took such ardinary objects a killed people in the most gruesome ways- it was horifying yet beautiful. My favorite scene was the ghost scene right before the last battle. the Ghosts actually did an etude with Richard and when it was over He said the "This is the hour..." speech which is usually at the begining. It had so much more meaning just changing the placement. It was neat because rolls in Richard that would typcally be cast aside rolls were so developed even with out lines. You could tell that the actors took even the smallest part so seriously, it is so wonderful to see. That is something that I really respect Russians for they care about even the smallest characters. The show was a work of art.

This week is more relaxing we have no class on wednesday for some obscure holiday that was added just recently because they no longer wanted to celbrate the October Revolution but they still wanted the day off. I personally am going shopping. On friday we leave very late at night for Saint-Petersberg I'm really excited it is supposed to be beautiful.
I hope you are all doing well
Love
Kirsten

31\10

Happy Halloween!!!
Tonight we are having a Halloween party at the studio. I'm going to go as a hip hop dancer but it is very Christina/ Brittney in their rebellious phase. we were going to have the party originally in the dorm but on of the 2Nd years came down with swine full and are being quarantined as well as the comunal space. So they moved it to MXT. Hopefully it doesn't spread, their are only 4 cases in Moscow right now. I heard though that at Ithaca their are 150+ cases and half of the theater department was sick. I really hope I don't get sick.

In lighter events I went to the Bolshoi last night and saw Swan Lake... I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life. The Prima who played the swan had the most beautiful back I have ever seen. It was really interesting because our ballet teacher was a prima at the Bolshoi and one of our dance numbers is from swan lake-obviously it is modified. I really can't describe how wonderful the experience was. The theater itself is beautiful painting on the cealing and a lavish chandelier. The dancers were all wonderful but eh prima was the best. She had such a power with her body, she was actually an actress and made me shed a few tears. The male lead was amazing his body was literally sculpted from marble. I really hope we get to go again I think some of us are going to try to get tickets.

I worked on my scene yesterday and despite the comedy of it my partner and I found some real depth to the characters which is what our teachers pushed us to find during our rehearsal. We have only done the first beat of the scene but we will continue to do more each rehearsal we are working on our scenes in class every 2-3 days depending on how far we get in class that day. I'mreally happy with my work and I hope I have the stamina to push me through the next 6weeks.
Miss you all
Kirsten

28/10

I'm not exactly sure what I have been doing for the past few days, they have flown by. I haven't had any shows but I've had a lot of work to do which makes my evening unbelivably short. We got our final scenes. I'm Agafia from Gogol's play Marraige. The play is about a girl- who is not really a girl any more she in her mid twenties finding the right man. the men whom she is given to choose from are beyond rediculous yet she can't make a decision. She ends up choosing the most normal of the bunch and his friend pushes them into getting married that day but instead the groom escapes through the window and the play ends. It is a comedy, which is quite different from Chevkov where most of the scenes are taken from. I'm excited about the character. Recently I have been working on some of Chekovs leading women and they have come fairly natural to me so it is nice to be given a challenge. My partner's name is Sam, he is really funny and we are also singing a duet together, we have a lot of fun.

Beside scenes classes have been fairly normal, movement, ballet, stage combat kick my butt. My Russian is slowly getting better and acting is aways pushing me farther. I accomplished a few things this week though, I finished my final paper for film history this weekend which is really nice because I domn't have to worry about the class anymore. we also started really combat moves both contact and noncontact- punching, kicking, blocking, headbutting ect.

For the next four days I have plays every night. Tomorrow I'm seeing the opening of Medea which I believe is a musical but I'm not sure. Friday I see Swan Lake at the Bolshoi which I've been waiting for since I got here. Satuday I see Richard III and then we have a Holloween party in which I think I will fall to old standby Christina Aguilera. And Saturday we see an original student production which is a comic musical and supposed to be very good. Everything I'm seeing this week I have been told is amazing.

I think that is about it. Time is flying I come home in a little under 2 months and it feels like I don't have enough time. I try to sleep and workout as much as I can. I have developed a new habit for cooking this week I have made: Belini's, a killer omlet, sauted vegitable, apple crisp, fancy pizza and ofcourse french toast.

I will try to do a better job of keeping you all updated
love
Kirsten

25/10

Yesterday was interesting... I have to admit that it wasn't nessesarily good on my part but I got through it. To start Firday night i was up really late because I had to read a play then perform a scene from it. I went to bed at 2:30 in the morning. Then ofcourse to my luck, our class started at 9:15 instead of 10 so I was up early as well. Our class was early because we need more time so Film was 4 hours long. To be honest I was drifting in and out of conciousness during the first film but the second film I was very interested in and am going to write my final paper on, which I'm going to do in just a few minutes. It was a silent film from the soviet era but the camera work was unbelivable especially for that time. They used framing and movement very effectively to set the mood of the piece. We then had a two hour break but one and half of those hours was spent working on a scene with my acting class inwhich in 3 days working on it I have yet to enter and do work- yeah! Ofcourse the work they are doing is interesting but I would like to do it instead of watch. We then all had etudes but me and my partner had planned to rehears during the break as well but we didn't have time so we improved based on what we had talked about. To be honest it wasn't very good and I broke charater laughing but for me personally I tried a distinctivly comic part which I haven't done before and Alex and Sasha said that it actually fit me pretty well and we would continue to work on comic characters which are traditionally of side of my type, which I am really excited about. I was a little disappointed because I could have done better.

In the evening we went to see my acting teacher, Sasha's show, which he prefaced by saying it wasn't very good. I personally didn't understand to much because it was a farce about actors and a lot of the actors on stage played their characters untruthfully BUT Sasha was amazing. You can see his why he works at MXT he was hilarious yet so truthfull in every outragous action. It was upsetting though because we were seated next to these two girls. These girls were clearly drunk and were continuing to drink at the show. They were loud talking at laughing they kept dropping there "Coke" bottles on the floor and they would roll forwards to the people in front of them. When they drank you could smell the alcohol. One of the girl kept snorting and dropped hre gum out of her mouth and started chewing on her necklace and then they started making fun of the "amerikanits" which was the final straw to move seats.

So after a clearly interesting day, I stayed at home and had 4 hours of theater conversation with some friends and had a sleepover in Hannah's room. I wooke up very late and had my traditional brunch, went grocery shopping for the week and now I'm going to try to get ahead in my classes because we have alot of shows including Swan Lake and the Bolshoy which I am so excited for I can't even express in words. The weeks are going fast and I'm trying to do as much as I can and have as much energy as possible so I take advantage of what little time remains. It suprises me how soon I will be seeing all of you.
Love
Kirsten

23/10

Today I had a presentation for Tolya on why Ivanov commits sucide and despite some bumbs in the road, one of my partners was unable to make the presentation, it went really well. We had an interesting conversation about the nature of sucide and the selfishness and selflessness. I focused on his realtionship with his to be second wife and I found myself inpassioned with the story and his choice. After we presented we had a discussion in which evryone in the class was engaged. Thats what I love about this group of people, they truly care about this experince and why a single chararter in all of literature would commit suicide. There are not alot of places where this would be true besides here.

My comfort level in acting has sky-rocketed. Today my teacher told me that my etude today was moving which is huge because usually they are calling me out for not connecting and not being in the moment and being selfconsious. I'm sure that my performances won't all be brilliant but I am going to start trying different characters and taking larger risks. This was a huge step for me and now I'm on the next flight of stairs. I have found a temporary peace with in myslef. After all the termoil of being peeled like an onion I'm feeling comfortable in my own skin... for the moment.

In general the language barrier is still up all though its a little better and the culture shock has completely evaporated. My stomche is still having some problems but luckly it hasn't gotten in the way of my work. My shoulders are still bugging me but I feel the muscle building and I just need to keep working hard. I have started adding my own personal work out in addition to what we do in class and walking to try to increase my musle mass. I think that is all to tell. Tomorrow we have an earlier morning then usual but we are going to see one of my acting teachers in a show tomorrow night. I can't wait to see what he can really do.
Love
Kirsten

21/10

After a crazy week last week this week is much more relaxing although I can't believe it is thursday. Everything has been going pretty well here, I'm still strugging with my health a little but only in the evenings. I was really proud of myself today because the partner etude I did was a success. I have made it a goal to be less self concious while I'm on stage especially during etudes. Today I felt totally in the skin of this character which was great. Ofcourse I messed up but when we went back through and worked it I was able to get out of my head and do honest work. It was a big step for me and hopefully it will continue. Our group etude tomorrow is amazing. We are in a small group of 7, 3 girls and 4 guys, and we have set up a sirine etude. In which music body and acting are all involved it is going to be stunning. Also in singing my partner and I did our duet today with a very funny scene. Out song is called "Marraige Tango" from I love you, Your Perfect Now Change. Its about two parents who at the end of the day all they want to do is have sex. It is alot of fun; thats what Moscow is for me right now a lot of fun. Ofcourse I need to push myself to be more focused but the first step is having a good time.
Love
Kirsten

19/10 continued...

To contiue my previous thought...
The Hamlet and Ophelia scene morphed in to the final scene, which traditionally it a sword fight between Hamlet adn Laertes, where all of the charaters even the dead were sitting around the dinner table. They did very styalized movements as Gertrude drank the poison then the focused shifted from to Hamlet and Cladio they went around the table and with there bare hand pushed each characters head down on the table to show their death. Each killed the people who he had a hand in their death. This final scene gave such a clear message of consequences and split the blame between Hamlet and Cladio. There was so much about this show that was wonderful but the most ispiring things was how they engaged your head and your heart. As I talked about it with my peers everyone had an intellectual take, did the director mean to make it seem that Hamlet was mad, how bad was Cladio, ect and everyone felt it in there gut. It was so moving and solitified my belief as acting as a tool for a better life. Consequence, guilt, responsiblity and love were all things that I took from this show.
On a completly opposite note, my health isn't doing very well. My stomache has been acting up and everything I eat makes me sick. My arms are also in pain, they are getting a lot stronger but it hurts. Finally because of my arms I popped my sholdered today and pulled a few muscles, it is starting to feel better but I was in a lot of pain for most of the day.
Classes are wonderful like usual. We have three etude's due tomorrow all based off of chekhov. My Ivnov project is due Friday and we get our final scenes tomorrow!!!!! I'm busy like usual but I trying to add additional working out to my routine although with how little sleep I get at night it is hard to want to do Pilates in the morning. Hope that everyone is well in the States.
Love,
Kirsten

19/10

Last night I saw the most amazing production of Hamlet. It wasn't traditional by any means, Hamlet pick up the to be or not to be speech off the ground and threw it away. All of the charaters were fabulous Gertrude, Hamlets mom, was truely in love with Cladio, uncle, Polonious was played comical and Ophelia unfold from simple to deep and loving. The whole thing was enthrawling and while I couldn't follow what they were saying I could feel it in my soul.
The last two scenes were so moving. After the death of Ophelia right before the duel between Laertes and Hamlet, Ophelia comes back as a ghost and her and Hamlet have a beautiful converstation. You see that he truley does love her and her death plagues him. That is something that has always been lacking in productions for me the love between Hamlet and Ophelia. Ophelia herslef is such a weak charater but the love between her and Hamlet developed her so much more as a person and made him more human it was beautiful.
..... work to do To be continued...

18/10

What a busy week. I headed out right now to unwind and get brunch with Hannah then back to the grindstone. I have a project due friday and we are going to see a show tonight.

Acting has started the transition to scene work. We did a scene study yesterday on The Seagull and I was amazed how much more was in that scene then I originally thought. It was easy to see with Alex and Sasha leading us through but I'm worried about doing it on my own. I have a tendency to pull things from how I feel about the character insead of basing it of off the text. It can be good sometimes because I make unique and personal charaters but ideally i would like to keep the intergrity of the play write. We also turned in suggestions for scenes that we wanted to do for or final preformance. I can't believe that I have been here almost a month their is so much more I want to do.

Last night we went to a club called Vino Grat. It was Canadian night, which was really funny because their weren't any Canadians, although I think it was focused on the hockey part of Canada. They had a hockey foosball table set up and while I didn't play it there were always shouts of excitement. They had great music so I just danced night away with a couple of close friends. We had in past nights been going out in large groups so the small group was a nice change.

This week should be fun and I'm hoping to do a little shopping on one of my free nights which a few and far between. I love you all so much
Kirsten

16/10

"Hillary [Clinton] told me to tell you all Hi!"
Tolya Smeliamnski

Yes today Tolya told us that when he went to the Bolshoy with Hillary this weekend, he talked about us (NTI and NIU- 43) and she was amazed and wanted him to say hi to some of the americans who were actually studing and imersing themselves in Russian culture... another example of how blessed I am to be here. All the same...
TGIF

Despite my great love for the theater I'm a little on overlaod and ready for sunday. Kapustnik while fun to do and interesting to hear the Russian's views was a bit borning to watch. Inside jokes in Russian are really hard to understand. Our part of Kapustnik was quick and to the point which I think the Russian's enjoyed. Luckly like all shows we got back a little earlier yesterday and were able to spend some time on an etude and even some sleep.

Tonight on the other hand I wasted 3 hours of my life here in Mosocw in a production of Ivanov (which we found out was really Ivanov and Other short Works mixed in). It was unclear whether the show was supossed to be a parody or a play. If it was a parody than it wasn't funny and was dragged out to the point where you were praying for Ivanov's suicide- sorry for ruining the ending. If it was a play then it was so overacted that it read as a parody, either way niether is good. About half of our group left at intermition, which was a smart idea because it just got longer and more "dramatic" in the 3rd and 4th acts, but I had to stay because I have a presentation on Ivanov's suicide on friday and I thought it would be interesting to see how the actor set it up. I was wrong, it involved rollerbaldes...

We are beginning the process of picking our final scenes as well as moving in to scene study and anaylsis starting with the Seagull tomorrow. Like always each day I feel more at home in Moscow and MXT.
Love you all
Kirsten

14/10

Rehersal rehearsal rehearsal! Kaputsnik is tomorrow and We had rehearsal for 3 hours after classes. I did the choreography for the last number with a freind and it was fairly stressful teaching 35 people but I think it will look really good. It is really funny how important it is the the Russians; our acting teachers offered to cancel classes and the other two groups did cancel their class. I'm glad we still have it becuase everyday I grow. Today I did a partner edute about my sister (Hannah) getting an abortion. It was really hard but showed me where some of my weakness were as well as some true and beautiful moments. Tomorrow will be insane with classes and a show but when in Russia...
Love
Kirsten

13/10

"We learn by failing"

My moto for the moment. We have even more rehearsal than usual right now because we have a show on thursday for the MXT students. It is only 6 minutes long but we have 43 people to invlove so natually its a pain in the butt. I'm exhausted, frustrated, in pain, confused but at the same time proud, happy and at peace. This all I have right now I will post more after the show is over.

Love
Kirsten

12/10

A lot of this experience is about independance and today I had alittle adventure that enhanced this lesson.
This morning when I woke up it was cold and rainy so a lot of people were muttering about taking the metro instead of walking the 2.5 miles we usally do to school. My friends, Kenya and Hannah, and I decided to go with but we were one of the last ones out the door. I was pretty sure I knew how to do it- I knew what stop and what line- so despite my better jundgement we decided to try it.
In the Metro everything is in Russian and no one speaks english. The metro near our dorm is a hub into the main city so there are multiple lines. When we got there I located our stop and figured out it is two stops on the green line. So we go down the elevators and are trying to find the green line but the arrows don't make any sence and I can't find Trevskya (in Russian of course) So I ask in russian, "Isvenistia (excuse me), Ya ne gavru Parruski (I don't speak russian), Gtzy Trevskya (where?)." The women I first asked tried to explain where the green line was and wrote down somthing that ofcourse I wouldn't find out what it ment until in Russian class which we were trying to make on time. So we walk around a little and can't find the green line. A Second person I ask the same phrases because thats all I know. And he points to the track that we have been standing next to so we get on. I wasn't sure if it was right so using the map I pointed to where I thought the train was going to yet another person. He shook his head ang pointed to where we were headed... wrong train. So off we get and back on and back to the original metro. By now we have to be at class in 25 minutes and it take 30+ minutes to get to class from where we are so we decide to try one more time. We walk all around the station but for the life of us we can't find the green track so we say, "alright screw it, time to run."
Then Kenya had a brilliant idea, a gypsy cab. A gypsy cab is esentially that you stick your hand out and who ever is driving by and wants a little cash picks you up because there aren't really taxis. You haggle a price then they take you to your desitniation hopefully... So our only option is the hail a gypsy cab because we have to be in class in 15 minute. I stuck out my hand and up pulls a guy in an old car. "Telegraph" I said waving 160 rubbles at him and he nods. The cab took us 8 minutes to get across from school, all that was left was to run through the underpass and into MXT.
Despite the fact that we got to class on time it started out an dreary day that matched the weather. Its ok thought because tomorrow is another day. By the way the word that the women wrote on the paper was the name that Trevskya is called on the metro signs and our Russian teacher explained after we had recounted our tale to her. Oh well live and learn!
Love
Kirsten

11/10

"Actions are the best tanslations of peoples thoughts."
"We are writing extrodanary moments of peoples lives."
"Stage is being emotionally stable naked."
"Acting is Reacting"
-Alex

I, and to some extent we as a group, have been struggling with these pricipals. As the layers of our innerworkings are being peeled back and we are being reveled to eachother and eventually an audience we are learning about ourselves. A true internal glance is so rare but eachday I'm being forced to look at myself as an individual person and to be truely honest it is confusing. It will be interesting to see the person I push myself to be. Right now my struggle is to take everything inside my head and push it out on stage which is invigoravting. To say simply that I am happy or sad or frustrated does not explain anything what I feel but know that I feel like I'm fulling my dreams if you pardon the cliche however difficult it may be.

Part of the difficulty for me is physical. My body itself is very strong from how hard I have worked this summer but my arms are so weak and each class is making things more painful but the muscle is starting to come back. Our movement class on friday was almost all arms which was a test for myself how hard I could work. Natasha asked me a few times to take it easy but I really pushed myself and payed for it later. I can feel though that my work is being rewarded.

Yesterday beside acting we had a tour of the MXT museum. Each time I find out more about the history of MXT i'm more in awe of what an honnor it is for me to be here. They have done some of the most important productions and movements in theater history in the very buildings that I walk in and out of so casually. It was so neat to see how important theater is in how they have preseved so much of it here. They have every sketch, diagram, mock up, costume, funiture prop and even dressing rooms and offices of famous productions and shows. I had a friend who took pictures of it all so when I get them from her I will try to poast a few. We always talked about theater history and all these places that important events have occured but never did I think that I would be studying in one of the most important, becoming a part of its history myself.

I love you all and miss you!!!!
Kirsten

8/10

Today was one of those days where a change occurs; our group etude today brought a wierd sort of trust with in our group. Despite the fact that the idea was not serious and required immense emotional support; we were all on the same wave lengths. Our etude to day was the "behind the scenes" right before a wedding. the boys and girls were separated and each had our own problems. I, ofcourse, was the bride and I have to say that if my wedding went that way I would be in hystarics unless these people were there. Despite all of the back stories and back stabbing our realationships and support of our realtionships was so concrete that even though one of my bridesmaids was trying to sabbatoge me, I still felt supported. We have begun the process of becoming a true ensemble. The energy we created because of that was incredible. As Sasha said,"A director could not direct that kind of atmoshpere." What was so rewarding for me was a renewed excitement for acting and the formation of trust in both my group and teachers. I was lucky that we had a high energy etude because I'm running out of steam...TGIF!
IT has been a whorl wind of the past couple days. The shows have been wonderfull and we have had 2-3 scenes that we work on per night and I now have three song to have prepared in the comming week. On the 15th we have a "festivle" with the Russian MXT students where we have to put on a show so we have also had rehearsals and meetings for that. Despite this crazyness I have found a lot of interesting internal... I don't know how to explain it but I feel really good. It might change in the next few but for today I feel really good!

7/10

It has been a busy couple days. Tonight is the first night that we haven't had a show. While the shows have been amazing it has been really hard because on monday we got back at 11:30 and still had a group etude and a scene. Tonight although we don't have a show we have to learn/memorize a song, do a group etude, do a partner etude and a personal etude. They are busting our butts. I'm finding that all of my forarm problems affect my shouldres as well and I have started being in pain after classes. I have rehearsal now but I will write more later hopefully...

5/10

A quick update... the next few days are very busy for me I have been at shows at night and I have a scene and well as my group etude to do each day. The show,Three Penny Opera, we saw tonight was wonderful although it went for 4 hours so it was too long. I'll talk more about that another time. Acting is slowly getting better and my body is not dying from the movement classes anymore. We are very busy but I think of all of you often even if I can't contact you. I'm making really close friends here and Moscow has really started to grow on me. Details on Wednesday!
Love
Kirsten

2/10

Sometimes events, people and even ourselves don’t live up to expectations and despite the fact that this week as had moments of each there has been a lot of great aspects. The ballet unfortunately didn’t live up to my expectations but then again we weren’t at the Bolshoi. We saw “The Seagull,” a Chekov play made into a ballet. It was really interesting; there was a mix of classical and modern dance symbolizing the different ideas of art. Both types were well danced but I didn’t agree with some of the choreography choices. For me I still feel like my acting is really weak but our professors have been really trying to emphasize that we are going to be frustrated and to just keep working. I keep thinking that I’m working hard enough but I’m not, I just have to keep pushing forward.
In movement yesterday Natasha kicked our butts. Squats, jumps, bridges, stretches, I was dripping with sweat. She also started us on some tricks. We did back bends which I did successfully with a spotter and the beginnings of wall walking, where you run and jump on the wall horizontally and try to step as many times as you can. Right now I can take two steps but the record for the school is 7 held by one of the 4th year MXT students; I don’t think I’ll get that many but I should have a few good tricks after this class.
My body has stopped hurting as much from the beating it has received but I’m exhausted inside. It has been a long week between all the movement, dance, stage fighting, acting, late night plays, later night etude rehearsals, and walking 3 miles each way to school. I have officially finished my first full week and I’m gearing up for Monday. Tomorrow we get to just hang out and rest. We will still have rehearsal and all of that but at least we get to sleep in!
Dobre Nochie (good night in phonetic Russian)
Love
Kirsten

The past few days

“Life is what happens when your busy doing something else.”

…and boy have I been busy. The past to days have both been show nights; last night we saw Uncle Vanya at the MXT. Maybe I was too tired, maybe it was the language, maybe I didn’t study the story enough or maybe Russians connect to their theater in a different way but I wasn’t enthralled. For a world class theater I was a little disappointed. I thought it would be so easy to read their bodies but they didn’t move them very much. The first act was so distant so detached, the second act was more physical but it didn’t move me. I think once I get the feel for the language the plays might come easier.
Acting the past two day has been interesting and productive. Our group etudes have really grown. Wednesday we did an old west saloon with a new player at a card game who cheated. I was a prostitute which was fun to play but as a group we have a great energy going with a lot action and playfulness with each other. Our teachers appreciated it; we had a few mistakes that we didn’t cover will. Today Alex said we made him cry; and despite my reluctance on how silly the topic could be it ended up as a beautiful movement piece. Our subject was sperm and egg but it became the creation of life. I portrayed part of the egg which we saw a women and each part of the egg played a different part of women; I was the maternal but we also had sexuality, fear, and beauty. The end was the “sperm” lifting us up then we all returned to the ground and melted away leaving a single human. My personal etudes aren’t going as well but I think I just have to work harder, I haven’t found my comfort zone yet with that “monologue” like scenario. I think this will be great for my auditioning skills but it is really frustrating while going through it.
One word can change you perspective, my voice teacher simply said “open you mouth” and the sound that came out of me was amazing- I think I almost fully mixed my voice I couldn’t believe it. She only spent 5 minutes with each of us today but I already feel a difference in the way I think. I think that the next three moths will really shape my voice.
Again my ballet teacher to day pushed me and I found flexibility which I can do myself with out her pushing my leg. It is funny hear none of the teachers speak much English but the simplicity of what they say with the passion behind it. For example my ballet teacher only yells a few things, “five posit” (fifth position), “Sit down” (plie), “Straighten leg” and “higher, higher” (if you can imagine them in a high think Russian accent). Yet it seems to work and every once in a while when we do something well she goes “mwuh mwuh mwuh” and makes an Italian kissing motion. Our voice teacher is similar it is “open” and “no meow, MEEEEOOOWWW” which actually seems to do the trick. My dance, singing, movement and slowly acting is changing each class.
We are seeing the ballet tomorrow so I probably won’t be able to write but I will fill you in on the ballet in a few days. I can’t wait to see it, my ballet teacher was a prima ballerina with the Bolshoi and if what little dance we have seen her so is any indication of their abilities it will me the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

I love you
Kirsten

9/29 and half of 9/30

"Sorry America but you've been doing theater wrong for the last 150 years."


Justin Colombo

The control that theRussian students have of their bodies is incerdible. Nothing I have seen in america can compare. Our bodies are so important for communication and in america we barely use them. The Russians as a people are very expressive with their bodies but the actors are even more amaxing. In the show last night it was some of the etudes that the seniors had worked on in their freshman year which were so successful to the public that they had continued. Our acting teachers told us to watch their examples of objects and animals, since that is what we are working o; and they were exact. The most impressive object was strings on a guitar. Each string had a distinct personality basedon the tambor; they made their bodies roll and vibrate like a string but they were people. For the animals their was a a skit of a wolf and hiena. I couldn't describe to you how they did it but it was unbelievable to see humans tranform into an animal so compelely. My favorite etude was tittled "Atraction." It was a entwining of two bodies. The choreoagraphy was so beautiful yet if anyone else tired todo it it would have been jerky becuase of the stain on the muscles. Every movement was slow and controled yet the technicality it took was more than I could imagine. there were so many beautiful peices and I was blown completly away by theirabilities. I think though our classes here will take us toward what they are ableto do but I think it will take alot of self dicipline to contiue the training becuase it isn't available to us in america.
Part of our training here includes ballet. We had ballet for the first time and I haven't sweat so much in my life. I was supprised how much was still in me. The only thing that wasn't very good was leg lifts but when she pushedmy legs I was more flexible then I have ever been. I will I think be better as time goes on and willget more strength.
Today I also had stage combat and voice but I will go into that later, as well as acting yesterday and today.
Love you all
Kirst

9/28

“Partners are everywhere”
Alex (acting professor)
Shshichstdtvbkglieyeyoyu is about how I feel when I am trying to learn Russian; my mouth can not keep up with my head. Russian as a language uses a lot more mouth muscles and is placed more forward in the mouth. We currently are working on the alphabet which is derived from Greek. I feel like a child when they are first learning to speak and everything comes out of their mouths a little funny, maybe they can’t say their r’s. While I have the r my e’s, and every possible e sound and any double sounds are totally lost to me but like I have said before being so immersed makes it easy to understand. We had our first Russian class and hopefully after three times a week I will begin to speak the language.
From a sit down class to extreme sweating, my movement class pushed me and today was only a test to see where we were WITHOUT pushing ourselves. We went through each body part first stretching then strengthening. I was very frustrated because I found that my shoulders in my hiatus from movement have become stiff and will not stretch as they are supposed to, I have a lot of work a head of me. I find it so interesting some stretches I can push my self very far while others I just get stuck. It seems though that our teacher Natasha will be able to push our bodies to incredible heights. For one of our tests Natasha had us jump over chairs in preparation for more elaborate jumps; imagine the possibilities.
In acting today we concentrated on partners and being in the moment. Sasha and Alex (our teachers) told us that partners are not only the person we are looking at but the whole group, the space, the chair we are sitting on and our in self. We worked on the hardest thing I think to do as an actor: receiving and giving communication in that exact moment. Internalizing the energy and emotion and feeling it change us and express it. It was hard though because it required us to be quick and it is hard to not over think when you are trying to focus on producing a reaction quickly. Our etude went well I think it pleased them how much time we spent on it but we are making a new one tonight. We also made small individual etudes of objects and preformed them. I was a hair straightened but I did not prepare how I should have and did not impress them but we are all redoing it for tomorrow so that is homework. I’m surprised how little time there is at night and how much there is to do. I have a feeling that this is the beginning of a busy, painful, and rewarding week.
Love
Kirsten

9/27

To be a tourist you see the sites of Moscow but not Moscow itself and while they are beautiful, breath taking and unlike anything you have ever seen in your life, Moscow can be beautiful without them. Today I think was the first day I felt connected to Moscow as a city. I ordered my own meal and despite the fact that I didn’t speak Russian very well I didn’t hold up the line, like I typically do. The language and their intentions behind their words is becoming easier to understand. Instead of gibberish I can hear unique sounds. Moscow is becoming comfortable and I think that is one of the beauties of the city. While the city and even the people can be harsh and even aggressive there is an understanding of the opposite that they can show you just as much kindness. It finally hit me today that I am in Russia and living amongst people who are nothing and everything like me.
The physical beauty of Moscow is also amazing which we saw on our 3 ½ hour bus tour. It was long and we stopped and got out places but it was worth it. The first thing we saw was St. Basil’s cathedral and the Kremlin which I have never seen and equal to. The cathedral, our tour guide explained, is a culmination of churches which creates a compass of the city. The red dome points north while the green points south. The east looks like traditional Russian hat and the west look like grenades because invasions all come from the west. This is one of the amazing things about Moscow in even the architecture tells the history of the city. Next we went to the overlook of the city by the cathedral Christ’s Savior which I had been to two days before. In Moscow they have a tradition that when a couple get married they write their names on a pad lock and put it on trees on a bridge- Only the picture can truly describe it. At this same bridge they have a bench that is curved and it is said if a couple who is fighting sits on either side and slides to the middle they will resolve their argument. Our next stop was a sculpture created by a French artist as a memorial to all the abused children, “for the children who are victims of adult’s vices.” The memorial is a ring of sculptured vices with two golden children in the middle, their hands reaching out to each other. We continued on to a park next to an old monastery where Stanislavsky and many other great Russians are buried. It was nice to just walk around. The last stop was Sparrow Hill where there is a beautiful panoramic of the city and the Moscow State University, Moscow’s Harvard. It was an incredible building but got the remark, “well that’s not intimidating (sarcasm).”
We are done sight seeing for the week. I start class tomorrow on a normal schedule. We are performing our first etude tomorrow, a short silent scene created by the group, which we rehearsed for an hour this evening. We are ready to have it ripped apart tomorrow but that is good. We were warned that we should expect criticism because Stanislavsky believed it was the way to get better to leave the good and work on the bed.

9/26

“Our childhood is our greatest tool for our creativity.”

Tolya

Green is a tall pine forest, light yellow is a tiny chick at Easter and black is the never-ending sky. Today was our first acting class and one of the activities was to think and be a color and then connect with others who were the same color. For our first acting class it as all about creating a rhythm with our group whether it was though clapping in order with task of walking and figuring out who was “it” without any external cues. Our professor Sasha speaks broken English but you can understand what he is saying simply through his body language. He is a great actor on the Moscow stage even while he sits every muscle is engaged in his words. We have a second teacher who is also a great actor but we haven’t met him yet.

In history Tolya introduced us to the personality of Stanislavski. He told us that when he tried to write a book the only thing that appeared in his manuscript was stories from his childhood. His books were never a bout his greatness but his failures and how each failure brought him closer to his goals as an artists.

Tonight we went out to a Russian bar, and because of our huge group and loudness the Russians were giving us dirty looks which is actually not that uncommon. Whenever we go to Russian stores the clerks yell at us in Russian until they realize we have no idea what they are saying, so then their best form of communication is to glare. Not all Russians are like this the other students, our guides, and our teachers and once in a while a sympathetic stranger will help us get through the language barrier. I find that the Language barrier is the one thing that I wish I could change and one thing that I would have done differently.

Pa’Ca

Kirsten

9/25 to my love ones

“If you want to know an artist you need to know how they live and how they love”
-Toliya Smeliansky

I have never met a passionate man about the theater then my history professor, and artistic director of MXT Smeliansky. He stressed to us the importance of telling MXT history as it was. As time has passed in the Russian theater each revolution has changed the face of the MXT or as we learned the MXT has shaped the face of Russia. In our “lecture” hall there is a exhibit with all the picture of great artists of the MXT looking at all of us. It felt like guides almost despite the cliché. It is a living exhibit it changes with the political landscape, “Behind every picture is a problem.” We also had Russian Cinema, to be honest I was exhausted so I didn’t absorb all of it but the women was wonderful.
Our evening to night has been abosorbed in sadness. One of our members lost their college room mate to night. Her pain transferred to all of us with reality of how far we are from home and the love ones we left behind. I love you all very much and I pray you are in good health. Please send prayers and energy my way for my grieving friend.
It is time for bed I will write more tomorrow but this is what on my heart tonight. This program is a blessing and so are all of you.
With all my Love
Kirsten

411

Picture might be hard for me to get up but check Facebook as well!

411

I lied my pictures won't be here but i think on face book it is going to be difficult though I will put a few up- I don't have a lot of internet time but I'll try!

9/24 Day 2

After fighting jet lag and a late morning some of us went to the American super market to get some groceries- especially for me, I had a hard time eating Russia food but I have found some nummy options. Communal cooking is a lot easier and a lot more fun so into the kitchen for a quick bite to eat and then of to MXT.
The walk to MXT is long and after the first 10 minutes you feet begin to throb because the streets switch between cement and a cobble stone like material. Walking in Moscow in very different because of the traffic. For the largest streets they have tunnels that go under ground and come out on the other side of the street. As you walk through the tunnels there are vendors on both sides selling an assortment of things.
Classes have still not begun yet but we had two meetings today one was a general meeting to see if we were all alright and the second was our first meeting with our Acting teachers. Both of the acting teachers are male- we are being split off into 2 groups- neither spoke any English and both had very Russian names which none of us remember. One teaches is the dean of acting and the other is a working professional at the MXT. The translators are interesting they take turns in somewhat short phrases, first the dean would speak something in Russian then the interpreter would translate. It was surprisingly easy to follow. The dean is wonderful very fun and has asked us not to loose our “American smiles.” We then had monologue performances my least favorite thing in the world, the dean could tell we were nervous so he said. “Don’t worry you don’t have to kill us with your acting.” He is very funny even after translation.
We got done early so they decided to take us on a boat ride along the Moscow River- that isn’t its real name but it runs through Moscow. All of the pictures are from this adventure- they aren’t actually taken by me but by my friend who is in the picture with me. The first step in our journey was to take the subway or tubs as they call them here. The tubs are set up similarly to DC but as my friends told me are busy like NYC. They are built like palaces with chandeliers, mosaics and marble everywhere. I was it bit nervous and Russian walk very fast but we got to the boat in one piece. The boat was amazing the first thing we saw was one of the glass bridges which was built originally a very long time ago but then was covered in glass fifteen year ago. Also we saw churches, the park (much like central park), the huge “dome” where all their sports are played, the new futuristic business center, a carnival, a gaudy monument to Peter the Great, One of the great cathedrals and A view from the bridge of Kremlin- which we will visit at a later date.
Tomorrow we have our first classes: Russian Cinema and History of Russian Theater with Smeliansky. We were told today that there are two magic worlds if we ever want anything in Moscow MXT and Smeliansky.

9/23 We've Arrived

As we walked off the plane the only voices we could here were our own. The Russian were silent and spoke in hushed tones. In an American airport you expect lots of noise with lots of people but more then a hundred people stood in line waiting to go through customs. Even whispers broke the silence. As you hand them your passport they speak to you but you have no idea what they are saying and they in turn can’t understand you.
As we walked out of the airport with our MATS (Moscow Art Theater School- MXT) guides, who were warm and welcoming, it began to rain as Shawna our “chaperon” it is a city that at one minute can feel so warm and the next it can push you away. The men had to load our entire luggage- it is custom in Russia so that the women don’t hurt there uterus! And off we went on the bus in the most chaotic traffic I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure there are traffic laws; even the ambulance couldn’t get through the see of cars.
As we drive through Moscow I was a bit disappointed. I imagined it a more beautiful city, and perhaps we haven’t seen that part yet but it was a bizarre combination of old and new. As shiny high rises went up, dilapidated and broken apartments were their neighbors. On our trip into the city most of what we saw was apartment every where. Only when we got closer to our apartments did stores beginning to pop up. One of my fellow actors commented that the city is almost like New York City except all in RUSSIAN.
For all of you that don’t know the Russians have a different alphabet then us so everything looks like Greek but not. Very few people speak English very well of they have decided not to reveal it to us. We went to go get the essentials and it over whelmed me. Pedestrian do not have the right of way EVERYTHING is in Russian and Rubles are 1:30 so everything kind seems expensive but you can never tell because it’s a lot to be trying to figure out where everything goes. In the super market English was none existence.
Despite the frustration of not being able to communicate with the Russians with in each other we have started to become very close. My room mates name is Rachel and she is wonderful. Our room is large and beautiful; and the amenities are excellent and are only split between a few of us. The 29 other MATS students have a wonderful presence about them. They are here to improve their craft and have no judgment of others. It is very comfortable and when the frustration got to me a little- as well as the lack of sleep- they were there to support me. We have been told that the Russian theory of acting centers around the development of an ensemble and I think we are starting to become one. To feel safe with people you’ve only known three days in a country you could’ve never dreamed visiting says a lot about the type of people they are.
In an hour we leave for our first Russian dinner- again no English- so it will be an adventure. Tomorrow we meet our teachers and have a sort of Russian orientations. Class begins Friday or Saturday and Monday we start our full regime. This includes: Ballet, Russian Language, Acting Stage Movement, Stag fighting, Russian History, Russian Costume Design and Russian film. Our cultural activities start next week as well. My unpacking needs to be finished before diner so I can relax after before an early bed time, hopefully to kill any possible jet lag.
I love and miss you all
Kirsten