Halfway Through my Journey- Week 3 Moscow

The third week here in Moscow started off great, with an exciting day on Monday! I finally got to see my friend Artem, who I have been in touch with since the very first Bolshoi summer in 2008!
            That Wednesday was also very exciting! It was probably one of the most exciting days I have had here, because MSNBC New York came to the academy to film us in our ballet repertoire class and Russian language class! Before they came, we had a really hard ballet class taught by one of my favorite teachers here, Mme. Ovdienko! Then, the film crew came and filmed one of the most tiring rep. classes I have ever taken! We started with Giselle Act 1 variation from the Peasant Pas. Some of us did the solos by ourselves, and some of the other girls did them in small groups of 3 or 4! Our teacher choose me to start, and as soon as I began, the director of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Madame Marina Leonova, walked in to watch! It was extremely nerve-racking, but it was also very exciting! I had so much fun getting to perform for her, as well as the cameras! We ended up doing 3 solos; Giselle, La Bayadere Shades (3rd), and Don Quixote Act 3 solo..... multiple times for each.... in a row! Needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted by the end of the day!
           That weekend, my original host family could not take me again because the mother had an unexpected business trip, so I went with a new one! It was really different because they lived ooutside of the city, but they were so kind and their home was very welcoming and cute! And it was so much fun because there were always a ton of people with us! The family had many neighbors and relatives around them in the small town, and so there were always people visiting; walking in and out whenever they pleased! And they also had a ton of kids which I loved!))
       Here is a link to the video on MSNBC
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/12/7355615-american-ballerinas-leap-at-chance-to-train-at-moscows-bolshoi-academy

 



Here are some pictures of my friends Kyra, Margo, and I in the studios at Bolshoi! I will be adding more later to my photo gallery on this site!

haha we are super silly! <3 So glad I made such great friends here! Halfway done with Russia... AHHHHH!
XOXO,
Tatum

(Originally posted August 9, 2011)