After 31 hours of travel, Isaac arrived home at almost midnight on December 23rd. This probably sounds absurd, but I saved dinner for him. By the time we retrieved his luggage and drove the hour home from the airport, we sat down to dinner at about 1:30 in the morning. (I did feed the rest of the family sandwiches and what-not through the day, but the roast and homemade rolls were saved for later.) We ate dinner, enjoyed some chatter, unpacked the essentials and hugged a bunch, then hit the hay.
Several weeks before he came home, I was instructed to not prepare noodles of any kind, hot dogs, nasty soup or hot cereal (unless it had lots of honey). Any time I can have help choosing a menu, I welcome the input, but doing without pasta is a little tricky for a family of our size. No matter. It is only for a few precious days.
We are 99% sure he'll be going back to Russia in January. In that short amount of time, I plan on getting my next five and a half months worth of hugs in. Sorry, son. It must be known. You will find me wrapping my arms around you at any random moment of the day.
I have a my very first ballet exam in on Thursday! Our class has been working hard and it's time to get our game on. We have been fortunate to have such a good teacher to yell and shout for the past few months, even if it is a bit upsetting. Also, I, along with a few of my classmates will be auditioning for the winter performance. I'll be doing two variations (solos) so wish me luck!
We've finally gotten some snow over here in Russia and let me tell you, it's cold here. I am still fretting over whether I am going to be able to come home since the school still hasn't given me my passport back*.
We went to eat sushi for my friends birthday and we had lot's fun! I, however, do not like sushi, but it was still fun! It was cool going. While I was sitting there, I realized I was sitting at the table with people from all over the world: Japanese, Italian, Romanian Chinese, Belgian, American, Canadian and of course Russian. I am so fortunate to be here and experience things like this. Truly amazing.
And now the audition:
This was one of my two solos. I was unable to film the first one sorry :(
BOOM!
Two days of classes, one day of rest, and then exam day was finally here. First off, I got my solid 8 hours of sleep. Second off, I was up at 7, stretching and warming up with a good breakfast in my belly. We were all very nervous, but we had some laughs! I'm very glad we get along so well, it makes the experience here so much more tolerable.
Us in the hallway before exam. I hate the dark mornings.
I love dancing. I am learning how to display this so that others can feel my joy. I feel that I can display it, but then my feet stop pointing, my jumps isn't as high, etc. That's what I've been thinking about this semester, learning the gesture of the movements, while keeping the quality of the technique high. I wouldn't say I was perfect, but I worked hard and results take patience. I have plenty of patience to become a good dancer. Unfortunately, relationships with the other teachers are a bit bad with my teacher. One teacher saved me and convinced the other teachers to give me a passable score, I am forever in that teachers debt. I hope the other teachers will someday be fair towards my teacher and his classes. It is unfair that they score because of the way the feel towards Kuznetsov personally. However, the good thing is that we all passed and are moving on to become artists. We felt like the exam went well and our teacher was happy. We were happy. One step closer to graduating from this school.
Our teacher is a brilliant and very good man. When I first arrived here, I did not like him but it was because I didn't understand him. I didn't understand what he wanted, what he was trying to tell our class. Even now I don't know all of what he means, but I understand some. His knowledge of ballet is incredible and I hope to someday learn all he knows. We are all so happy it's finally over. Assignment from my teacher: Read Lord of the Flies. I'm ready to sleep.
From the left: Me, Tomoya, Viktalik, Grisha, Janos, Ballet instructor, Pianist, Sergei, Rafiel and Tolik.
*They waited until nearly the last minute, but the Passport with an extended visa is now in hand. I am going home.
If I am going to continue to be honest on this blog, than I have to write an update about Isaac's classroom experience.
Isaac's teacher, Ilya Kuznetsov, has been difficult and has pushed our boy very hard. As you well know, I haven't always agreed with his methods, but I am not a ballet teacher . . . or dancer . . . or critic. Frankly, everything I have learned about ballet has come since Isaac started dancing three years ago.
One consequence of having a demanding teacher is that when he does give a compliment, it feels like sunshine breaking out from behind the clouds after a long winter's storm. One instance was after Isaac had danced a solo during class. After the music ended, he was still down on one knee, hands raised, when Kuznetsov strode quickly to him. Grabbing Isaac's up-reaching hand, he shook it saying, "You are crazy when you dance! I like that!"
Another time was after a particularly difficult week, the boys were all at bar working the combinations they had been working on so diligently. Isaac commented on the fact they the boys were totally in sync and there were moments where they looked like they were working from one mind. It was a moment of satisfaction for a boy whose chosen path of study demands perfection.
The man truly loves the art of ballet. His youtube channel is proof enough of that. If he can bestow some of his understanding of movement and expression on my son, then it will be worth the hard words and difficult days.
Isaac is having a great experience in Russia. Not always a great time, but certainly a great experience.
The sheer nature of ballet, being an art of young bodies, forces the dancers to take life seriously much of the time. They have to have the poise, determination, work ethic and fortitude of a much older person or, quite frankly, they wouldn't survive the training. They endure pressures that would break many an adult.
That is why pictures like this make me so happy.
Play, children, play!!
Snowball to the face.
"Look what I have prepared for you: Snow."
Of course, they are still dancers.
And as such, if you know one at all, dancers will dance.
When going to see a performance no matter the art, you are going to see something special, whether it is a beautiful painting, a singer, or a dancer etc. In our classes, my teacher has been trying to beat into our sometimes uncooperative minds that we need to show something special in our dancing, something that makes people say, "Wow, I've never seen/felt anything like that before."
The key to achieving this is making your audience feel something special. Once you can impress your teacher, the audience will be in pieces.
The technique will come with hard and smart working, most of the time. But being a true artist, is something that cannot be taught. Yes, you can copy the little tilt of the head or the gesture of your hand from your teacher, however that is not special. It's like re-releasing a film that came out 20 or 30 years ago (ahem Star Wars). Yes it was special, but we don't want to see it again, we're ready for something different!
In two weeks we have a ballet exam; it is my first. From what I've collected from other students, a ballet exam involves all of the teachers from the school coming and watching an entire class. They grade each student on a 5 point system, 5 being the highest. It is a very nerve-wracking thing and it scares me to show so many ballet experts an hour and forty minutes of my dancing.
But I came here to be challenged and it is a great challenge.
Besides most of my life dancing and learning Russian, I had a wonderful thanksgiving and am enjoying life in a big city. The metro isn't so scary anymore and nearly being hit by a car on a daily basis is becoming normal. Currently, I am preparing for Christmas time (lights, snowflake stickers on the windows, Christmas music). My friend and I are going to go see if we can find a tree that's a little cheaper then the 2 foot $60 dollar one at our grocery store. However, now I must go stretch and do my Russian Language homework. This language better be worth it!
