Russian Program

Pinocchio’s Adventures in the Soviet Wonderland: Contexts and Challenges of Soviet Children’s Literature
Guest lecture by Marina Balina (Illinois Wesleyan University)
Wednesday, December 2, 4:15 p.m.
Smith Campus Center 208

If you’re interested, you may also want to go see the film screening: please contact Prof. Rudova (lrudova@pomona.edu) for more information!

One of the most celebrated canonical texts in Soviet children’s literature, Aleksei Tolstoy’s The Golden Key or The Adventures of Buratino (1935), was based on Carlo Collodi’s tale, Pinocchio or The Adventures of the Wooden Puppet (1908). In 1939, the enormous success of Buratino prompted the Soviet director Alexander Ptushko to make a film based on Tolstoy’s book, and the author himself was invited to write a screenplay based on his text. In 1975 the filmmaker Leonid Nechaev returns to Tolstoy’s Buratino once again and produces a two-part TV musical film that unexpectedly leaves the territory of children’s film and attacks Soviet society under Leonid Brezhnev’s regime. In Nechaev’s interpretation, the world surrounding Buratino is thoroughly corrupt, immoral, and cynical. Professor Balina’s talk examines how Tolstoy’s book becomes a vehicle of a social critique of the Soviet state in different historical contexts. Professor Balina is Isaac Funk Professor of Russian at Illinois Wesleyan University. She is the author of numerous articles and co-editor of books on Soviet literature and culture. She is currently working on a book on Soviet children’s literature.

Co-sponsored by the Office of Public Events; History Department/Thompson Fund; English Department; Department of Religion; ID1 Program; German Department (Scripps) FMI contact Prof. Rudova lrudova@pomona.edu

This just in from L.A. (You can reach the event site by taking Metrolink to Union Station and walking to Disney Hall.)

World City at the Music Center – Barynya/Барыня

Join us for a day of FREE programming for families showcasing Russian Dance and Music!

Saturday, November 14, 2009
11:00 AM & 12:30 PM
W.M. Keck Amphitheatre
Walt Disney Concert Hall
FREE

Be prepared to get up off your seat and dance along with the Barynya ensemble, a unique group of top Russian, Cossack, and Ukrainian dancers and musicians. Immerse yourself in the delightful sounds of traditional Russian instruments such as the balalaika, garmoshka, and Gypsy guitars as you feast your eyes on the breathtaking crimsons and sapphires of each costume. Barynya has performed internationally with the Moiseev Dance Company and the Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company, as well as within the United States at such prominent locations as Lincoln Center in New York City as well as the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.

Performance tickets are FREE and are distributed on a first-come basis Grand Avenue at 2nd Street.
Tickets for 11 a.m. performance distributed beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Tickets for 12:30 p.m. performance distributed beginning at 11:00 a.m.

World City at the Music Center brings to downtown Los Angeles the seventh season of exceptional artists. This FREE programming for families showcases cultures from around the world through dance, music, song, and storytelling.

For more information, please visit musiccenter.org, email education@musiccenter.org <mailto:education@musiccenter.org> , or call 213-972-4396.

NOTE: The W.M. Keck Children’s Amphitheatre is an intimate outdoor performance space.  Sunscreen and appropriate seasonal attire are strongly encouraged.  In the event of rain, event will be moved to a nearby indoor location.

On Monday at 7 p.m. Dmitry Trakovsky, a local  filmmaker who recently showedd hisdocumentary about the Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1987) at the Laemmle Theatre, will be joining us for a screening of Tarkovsky’s abstract masterpiece”The Mirror” (”Zerkalo”).

Place: Oldenborg Theater

Chirgilchin: Tuvan Throat Singers
Friday, October 23,  8 p.m., Bridges Hall of Music
From Tuva, a small Russian province, Chirgilchin  <http://www.chirgilchin.com/> richly creates this ancient vocal tradition in which one singer produces two or more voices simultaneously. The four-member ensemble also plays hand-made instruments. Download the flier. <http://www.music.pomona.edu/fliers/ChirgilchinFlier_Sm.pdf>
Lecture/Demonstration – Thursday, Oct. 22 at 4:15 p.m. – Lyman Hall

October 17 and 18 at 11 a.m. there will be a screening of “Meeting Andrei Tarkovsky,” a film by Dmitry Trakovsky at the Claremont Laemmle. Andrei Tarkovsky was one of the great Russian filmmakers of the second half of the 20th century. He directed films such as Solaris, Stalker, Andrei Rublev, and  My Name is Ivan.  For more on this film, see the website www.trakovskyfilm.com!

New! We have a schedule for Russian tutoring this semester.

All tutoring sessions take place in the FRLC 1st-floor Mason: in the evenings, only the East Entrance (fountain side) to Mason will be open.
Sunday…………..8:00pm to 10:00pm……..Nina Vertlib
Tuesday………….8:00pm to 9:00pm………Maria Whittle
Wednesday…….7:00pm to 9:00pm………Becky Lent

Click here for last spring’s student-produced Russian newsletter, the Русский вестник.

(Note: for updated course information, please consult the “courses” page of this website or the Claremont Colleges course catalogue.)

Russian Tea — Русский чай

Wednesday, October 28, 4:15, FLRC (1st floor of Mason Hall)

Oldenborg Special Russian Dinner

Sunday, March 7, 2010, Oldenborg Dining Hall

Russian language placement exams for incoming students (all levels):

Monday, August 24, 8-9 a.m. Mason 2. (Pomona)

Friday, August 28, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Mason 2 (Pomona)