Back in the USSR

Right now I'm sitting in the green room in the American Studio on break from Kapusnik rehearsal. Kapusnik is a Russian tradition that started because during lent theater was not allowed to be performed. People got together during this time and created comical skits for each other. The tradition of these skits continues today and is celebrated in schools across Russia. Here at the Moscow Art Theater School it is taken much more seriously than in other places because you are putting on a performance for the entire school. If your Kapusnik doesn't got well it colors the rest of your year and you cannot be redeemed until the next Kapusnik. Recently the Americans have been stealing the show with their natural inclination to sketch comedy and improv (thank you Second City). Kapusnik is named after cabbage pies- I've yet to reconcile why this is. Nevertheless, the 43 American students have joined hands, thrown their pride to the wind and seized the moment to hopefully show the Russians our excellent sense of humor and uncanny ability in musical theater.

Yesterday I performed my character etude for class. I was a four year old little girl stealing cookies late at night from the kitchen. For those of you who know them, Penny, Patch and Tall Bear made their debut. When preparing my character I drew upon some of my best friends Rosemary and Morgan. I know I will never do their preciousness justice, but Sergei (my acting teacher) and the rest of the class really enjoyed my piece.

I haven't really talked about any of the shows we have been seeing. Almost every evening we're going to the theater. We've seen Chekhov, Brecht, Shakespeare and much more. I loved the production of Three Penny Opera (although it was four hours long) and could only think of Skidmore and Erin Daley. After Uncle Vanya I could have talked to Alma for hours and Tadashi Suzuki's version of King Lear only sparked an image of Will stomping out truth in my mind. Chekhov is brilliant. I've finally started to grasp what is so beautiful about his plays.

Pease and Love.

Pelmeni

Although I have had ample opportunity to taste the delicacies of Russian cuisine (caviar, smoked salmon, ect.) I believe I have discovered one of Russia's finest of foods. Though modest in appearance and prolific throughout grocery stores of every shape and size, the glory of pelmeni is unparalleled. This small dumpling comes in all shapes and sizes and could be best described as a hybrid between a Chinese steamed dumpling and an Italian tortellini or ravioli. Pelmeni are usually filled with meat and seasoning. The method of preparation is simple: buy your favorite kind at the market (most come frozen), boil a small pot of water with salt, add pelmeni and allow to cook and finally after draining the gems, put them in a bowl with lots of sour cream (smetana). Ideally when you bite into the pelmeni there will still be remnants of salty water which explode through the dough and create a kind of broth with the sour cream in your mouth as you try not to devour an entire bowl in less than a minute. Pelmeni-- yet another addition to all the things Russia does right.