Photoset
December 14, 2011
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Russian Winter Festival

It’s been a busy holiday season (so far) but I’m never too busy to squeeze in another Russian festival! This weekend, муж and I attended the Russian Winter Festival at the Hillwood Museum.

I am not ashamed to admit, the part of the festival I was most excited for was the “special art activity where visitors of all ages can create their own kokoshnik, a lady’s headdress”. What do you think of my special art? 

And do you recognize the musical group from the bottom picture? (Hint here.)

In the middle are my two favorite artifacts from ‘the Estate’.

The festival was fun, but I’m not sure I’d pay the $18 admission to go back next year. Most of the festivals I went to this year were just as jolly of a good time and were also free. 

What Russian events have you been to this holiday season?

Tags: Washington DC events Festivals

Photo
November 30, 2011
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Lezginka! Last Friday I was lucky enough to attend a Lezginka workshop sponsored by Russkiy Mir of Washington DC. What’s Lezginka? It’s the national dance of the Caucasus region. Each area has it’s own variation. We learned the Kabardinian, as that’s where our young dance-instructor couple (shown here) is from. The version we learned is the dance of a love story. There are three parts. During the first part, the Kafa*, the woman is very shy, barely making eye contact with the man as he dances around her. The second part is called the Laparisa*. This is where the two start to show off a bit more - especially the man. This was definitely the most fun to dance as it involved some of the quick footwork you’ll see in the video below. The third part, the Witch* is where the two finally get to be together (after getting the family’s permission, of course). This is the only part of the dance where the couple touches. (*These spellings are my best guesses, as I could not find a reliable source with this information printed, so corrections are welcome!) Check out this video to see a sample of the Lezginka. And don’t forget: Now through Friday, you can enter to WIN a copy of First 1000 Words in Russian! Click here for details!

Lezginka!

Last Friday I was lucky enough to attend a Lezginka workshop sponsored by Russkiy Mir of Washington DC.

What’s Lezginka? It’s the national dance of the Caucasus region. Each area has it’s own variation. We learned the Kabardinian, as that’s where our young dance-instructor couple (shown here) is from.

The version we learned is the dance of a love story. There are three parts. During the first part, the Kafa*, the woman is very shy, barely making eye contact with the man as he dances around her. The second part is called the Laparisa*. This is where the two start to show off a bit more - especially the man. This was definitely the most fun to dance as it involved some of the quick footwork you’ll see in the video below.

The third part, the Witch* is where the two finally get to be together (after getting the family’s permission, of course). This is the only part of the dance where the couple touches. (*These spellings are my best guesses, as I could not find a reliable source with this information printed, so corrections are welcome!)

Check out this video to see a sample of the Lezginka.

And don’t forget: Now through Friday, you can enter to WIN a copy of First 1000 Words in Russian! Click here for details!

Tags: Washington DC Dancing events

Photoset
November 01, 2011
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Matryoshki of the World Unite! (A Revolutionary Show n Tell Party)

Something really cool happened last week. As you might know I am accumulating quite a collection of Matryoshki, and they have been nagging me to leave the house, so I finally packed them up and took them out for a night on the town!

…to an event sponsored by Russkiy Mir: Matryoshki of the World Unite! It was a matryoshka show and tell party! One of the highlights was the huge matryoshka, pictured above, with a giant bottle of vodka inside instead of the traditional 5-15 dolls. Not to brag too much, but I’m pretty sure I had the most on display (even though I didn’t bring everything I had - I didn’t want to be too overzealous!)

After the show and tell, there was a presentation about different matryoshki and then we sang songs. :) It was a small event, but I think it’s great that Russkiy Mir tried to do something unique while getting people together to celebrate Russian culture.

I’ll definitely be checking out their events in the future and adding them to my calendar. What’s the most unique Russian event you’ve been to?

Tags: matryoshka events washington dc

Photoset
October 28, 2011
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Last Russian Festival of the Season

I actually thought I had posted this already, but I guess I had one last Russian Festival post to go…

So this was the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church Russian Festival in Baltimore. This was my first time at this particular festival, and my 4th Russian (or Ukrainian) Festival of the season. 

One of my favorite things about this festival was their tea station where they served flavored tea out of a samovar, and let you add jam or honey to it. They had a nicely decorated ‘tea room’ where you could sit and enjoy.

I would also say this festival had the best selection of food out of any of the ones we visited, although they did not have my favorite - pelmini.

So, that was the last festival of the season! I can take a break for now, but I’m already looking forward to next season!!

Did you go to a Russian festival this year?

Tags: Russian Festivals Washington dc

Video
October 21, 2011
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My first YouTube video! Got 20 seconds? Check out a member of the Samovar Folk Music Ensemble teaching 2 future Samovars how to dance…

Tags: Washington DC festivals events

Link
October 20, 2011
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Passion For Russian - DC

Hey Guys, 

I added a new page - it’s a Google Calendar of Russian-related events going on in the Washington DC area - check it out. Who are my fellow Washington DC residents out there? Make yourselves known! :)

Tags: Washington DC events

Photo
October 18, 2011
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Here’s Муж ordering some tasty treats at Russian(/Ukrainian) Festival # 2 of the season: my favorite, “Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John The Baptist’s Russian Bazaar”. This year we attended 1 Ukrainian Festival and 3 Russian Festivals, so I’m becoming a bit of an expert. All of the festivals are a great time and have their strengths and weaknesses, but for me, this one has the best mix of food, and people with a good variety of entertainment acts.  On the weekend this took place, it was cold and rainy. I was hoping that would mean that the festival would be a little less busy, but no such luck - I couldn’t believe the amount of people that came out for this. Have you been to any Russian, or other cultural festivals this season?

Here’s Муж ordering some tasty treats at Russian(/Ukrainian) Festival # 2 of the season: my favorite, “Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John The Baptist’s Russian Bazaar”.

This year we attended 1 Ukrainian Festival and 3 Russian Festivals, so I’m becoming a bit of an expert. All of the festivals are a great time and have their strengths and weaknesses, but for me, this one has the best mix of food, and people with a good variety of entertainment acts. 

On the weekend this took place, it was cold and rainy. I was hoping that would mean that the festival would be a little less busy, but no such luck - I couldn’t believe the amount of people that came out for this.

Have you been to any Russian, or other cultural festivals this season?

Tags: Washington DC festivals events

Link
February 07, 2011
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GLN: Global Languages Network

I wanted to spread the word about a great organization: The Global Language Network. They offer low cost* language classes in over 60 languages! Right now, I’m taking my second Russian class in addition to Beginning Slovak. This summer I took Beginning Kazakh, too.

I believe classes are currently only offered in DC (on the GWU campus) but I have a feeling they’ll be branching out soon.

*The cost: $25 registration fee + $125 deposit that you get back if you miss 3 or less classes. Not bad!

Tags: Washington DC classes GLN

Text
January 18, 2011
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What Russian events are going on in DC?

I get asked this question a lot, so just in case any of you wanted to know, here’s what I recommend.

1. I think it goes without saying the best way to stay involved is to read my blog! And more importantly to connect with me on Facebook, where I post the most interesting (to me) things that are going on in the city.

2. I am a strong supporter of Meetup.com. I’ve made great friends, kept up with my Russian, and gone to tons of events because of them! There are 4 or 5 groups in the DC area alone, but here’s a link to all the Russian Language Meetup groups in the world!!!

3. See RussianDC.com for a running calendar of Russian events. To receive updates from them, sign up for their Facebook page.

4. There are a few organizations that plan “The Hottest Russian/European parties” in DC. So check in with Red Skies, Troika, and To4ka.

Know of anything else? Please let me know and I’ll add it to the list!

Have fun!

UPDATE: You can now sign up to by on my personal email distribution list! To sign up, send me an email via my contact form. (For now this is for Washington DC area events only.)

Tags: Events Washington DC