What I Do All Day

Okay guys, this is what I do here in Moscow. Watch stuff like this.

Here's someone failing their second-year object exam at Schukin:

And here are two first-years getting a 4+ (B+) on theirs at MXAT:

This is totally unfair of me because one dude got assigned a yellow ball and those other guys got a massive, sturdy table.

Still, this stuff is REMARKABLE. Object work is generally the second-year course of study in the Russian movement tradition, though MXAT only teaches it with a very light touch (out of the first years, only those two used an object in their exam, whereas each Shukin student was assigned an object [a plate, a cane, a whip, a stool] to interact with as acrobatically and coordinatedly as possible). It's a foundational piece of movement as it aligns with the work of an actor on stage--constantly using props, both hand and furniture, to flesh out character and action. I wish I had videos of the best exams at Schukin-- they were astounding, as it's probably the best object/acrobatics training in the world. 

Also, yesterday marked the halfway point of my time in Moscow. INSANE. Two new American groups have started at MXAT so now I'm in class sixteen hours a week with four instructors instead of six hours a week with two. Feelin' the burn. 

These classes the building blocks that eventually structure exams like the previously posted ones. I'll post another video soon more relevant to what I am learning (they take like two hours to upload... bleghhhh). I feel like the majority of my readership is probably skeptical that someone as uncoordinated as I could ever work towards this type of stuff, but that's the whole thing-- the pedagogical approach is so in tune and individually oriented that they can teach even the least genetically predisposed to move in new and strange and amazing ways.

Answer to Blog Bowl #2: Yogurt-covered things. No lie. You thought you wanted yogurt-covered almonds? THINK AGAIN, SILLY FOREIGNER. Raspberries are pretty expensive too.

Blog Bowl #3: In the Cyrillic alphabet, if C is S, and H is N, then what is B?