From the people who brought you Gagarin

[fivemack]

The first estimate I found on Google claimed there were 50,000 Russians in London. Yesterday, most of them were in Trafalgar Square, as the Russian-British Cultural Association's Russian Winter Festival brought several famous Russian performers to a big stage there.

It was a much more Russian-oriented event than I'd expected: narrated in Russian and English (by the anchorwoman of the 0200-0600 session on Capital FM), all sung in Russian apart from the Karagod Group doing "Back in the USSR". Beautiful costumes (embroidered silk and swirling skirts), amazing acrobatic dancing, and the square pretty much packed shoulder to shoulder; people standing all around the fountains, people climbing the fountains by the end of the evening. Barmen all around baffled by Russian Federation passports though, to the annoyance of many 16-year-olds, the ages are given in numerals.

The Chechen group wore dresses that came to an inch above the floor, and glided around with small steps in a most disconcerting way. The Eskimo group were wonderfully coquettish, with music sounding like very enthusiastic heavy breathing.

The programme may be found here until it is taken down

Yr hmbl crspndt commits what was in the Soviet era the serious crime of using a drunken Red Army Choir member as a photographic prop

Dancer from Severnoye Siyanie

Karagod ensemble; Bianca Castafiore, eat your heart out

A Red Army Choir member at the end of an amazingly protracted low note

Leaping Cossacks from the Faizi Gaskarov Ensemble

I think this is Krinitsa

Chechens (from the Makhmud Esambaev Ensemble) in silken robes

Though he is little, yet he is fierce

Comments

[scottscidmore.livejournal.com]

Sounds like something to attend. How long did it last? And who's the civilian in the first picture?

[fivemack.livejournal.com]

I'm the civilian, the Red Army Choir member was happily ensconced in the pub and didn't seem to mind being used as a prop by random visitors.

The event was 1200-2000: an hour of wandering around stalls and of introductions by the Mayor of London and the Deputy Mayor of Moscow, five hours of Russian regional culture, then two of Russian pop. It got more crowded as the evening went on; by the middle of the Russian pop, the only hope of a view was to peer at the screen of the camcorder being held above the head of someone in front of you, so we left early to catch a bus.

It was great fun, I was a bit disappointed that so few Brits turned up; wherever you stood, the prevailing conversations were in Russian.

[scottscidmore.livejournal.com]

oops - I forgot the 8-) after the question. I was pretty sure that was you.

Is the next image down from the Eskimo presentation?

Five ours of trad plus 2 hours of pop? Pretty good, especially if one really has an interest in the regional stuff. Interesting that so few Brits came, makes it sound as if they are a bit like those over here in the US.

[jojomojo.livejournal.com]

Is it still called the Red Army Choir? Given the demise of the Red Army, this seems...odd.

[fivemack.livejournal.com]

It's the "Military Choir bearing-the-name-of Alexandrov", officially. But everyone still calls it the Red Army Choir.

("bearing-the-name-of" is hideously kludgy, but is about the only translation I can think of for the Russian "имени" ("iimenii"). My brother will now pop up, explain that I've spelled the Russian wrong, and think of a much more elegant translation)