Russian Culture question

[CoyoteChris]

Not much time to watch skating today. I watched the youtubes of my favorite skaters at Russian GP stop.
I noted they had quite a few fans show up, thankfully.
But when Anna P. laid down that great short, very few people stood up. The applause were very good, but not huge.
So I played the end of the skate over a few times...I wasnt seeing things. People were polite, but I felt reserved for that performance.
I would have gone nuts for Anna.
Are the Russians just reserved, even about their own stars? I would not have said so in the past.

 

[naz]

I think it's a combination of a few things.
First, it could be that a lot of the audience was there to see Julia and it's possible that Anna is just not their favorite.
Also, they aren't usually overly emotional. I've noticed that Russians overall, especially the older people, don't have the culture of expressing emotions by screaming or being very loud, they are as you said more reserved, and it seemed to me that there were more adults than young adults there.
I'm not Russian myself, but being geographically and culturally (kind of) close to Russia left this impression on me.

 

[Sam L]

Like above, Julia seems extremely popular. Even in Russia, the effects of the last Olympics in this sport probably lingers on so meaning Sotnikova/Lipnitskaia are going to be the bigger stars over everyone else regardless of what has happened in the last two years. But I'm sure some Russians can confirm.

As for the actual culture of Russians, I have been to Russian, just a holiday but saying that Russians are reserved is an understatement lol. But that's a personal interaction thing and I would think that their responses to their sports stars shouldn't be affected by this? I mean I have no interest in football but I'm guessing you see any reservedness in Russian football stands lol.

 

[Alex D]

Russians in general, are very polite and they don´t want to step on your toe´s. What Americans like to do, is not Russians nature, especially in public. They have a very calm attitude and friendly thoughts, very similar to people at Finland or Estonia. You could say, they think first, before they act, they care about the consequences and are very hard working people.

That being said, when I was at Sochi, I saw chants at Curling matches, something that nobody would ever do and the US team was pretty annoyed by that if I recall. So it is also a matter of circumstances and I remember how several people accused Russians for their Sochi audience at the Ladies and Pairs comp, claiming the Russians made too much noise for their own skaters

While I am not Russian myself, I did study with Russians and have friends from St. Petersburg, very lovely people and I also have fond memories of those that I met each year at Europeans. They were always very supportive for ALL skaters and had incredible knowledge.
I have to admit that the Russian fans back then, were one reason to keep going to the Europeans and we also have Russians coming to Nebelhorn each year and maybe it is because I speak some Russian or because I was at Russia, but I just get along with Russians and their mindset, more than with several other nationalities and I often feel, they are misunderstood by the general audience in the West.

I also like the Russian members of this forum, they respect other skaters and if they attack, then it´s usually because they were attacked first and I always feel sad when those things happen, as Russians can also be very nationalistic, which means they protect their own from harm, a quality we Germans completely stopped developing after 45.

Why Anna did not get as much support, I don´t know, as I was not at the ice rink. That being said, I felt that Elena and Yulia, were more my cup of tea as well, which does not mean Anna was bad and I admit, I would had given her an even higher placement at worlds, as I so loved her programs last year, especially the EX with the Tango in a madhouse. She has a very great style and is a gorgeous jumper, who really attacks everything and her stepsequence, the entry was phenomenal, yesterday.

I also want to note, that there were a lot of fans screaming also for skaters from NA

 

[[email protected]]

There are different Russians. Those who are spectators at CoR are to a large extent either well-educated intelligent people or former skaters (I refer myself to both groups ) or current skaters with families. It's a different crowd than was in Sochi when the bulk was hockey fans with hysterical Ra-sse-ya! I will be at the rink today and experience for myself the crowd. Last times at CoR it was quite supportive.

But what is true is that one should not impose one's stereotypes on different cultures and situations. There is no such culture of standing ovations in Russia like, say, in Japan. And it is quite unproductive to criticize the Russians for that.

 

[Alex D]

There are different Russians. Those who are spectators at CoR are to a large extent either well-educated intelligent people or former skaters (I refer myself to both groups ) or current skaters with families. It's a different crowd than was in Sochi when the bulk was hockey fans with hysterical Ra-sse-ya! I will be at the rink today and experience for myself the crowd. Last times at CoR it was quite supportive.

But what is true is that one should not impose one's stereotypes on different cultures and situations. There is no such culture of standing ovations in Russia like, say, in Japan. And it is quite unproductive to criticize the Russians for that.

I have to admit Sam, that I did not feel that the crowds were rude at Sochi, at Curling most just didn't know that silence is required, even though the volunteers had shields in Russian and English asking for said and it was comparable to Rio where everyone was clapping totally async to the athletes music, it´s by no means that they wanted to make it harder, its just how they felt it was supportive.

As for FS, I did not see everything there at Sochi, but each nation has her chants I think, so to me, it´s not wrong to support the own athletes, even if they were all hockey fans who just bought the wrong tickets

If Australians compete, it´s the Aussie, Aussie, Aussie oi oi oi, Americans always go for USA, USA and stand up all the time (so annoying if you are small), the French have Allez les Bleuz, Nippon I hear a lot at football matches from Japan and so on.

I kind of like that, Nigerians always have drums and sing - it´s the beauty of our world that we have such variety I think.

 

[sneakers]

Not much time to watch skating today. I watched the youtubes of my favorite skaters at Russian GP stop.
I noted they had quite a few fans show up, thankfully.
But when Anna P. laid down that great short, very few people stood up. The applause were very good, but not huge.
So I played the end of the skate over a few times...I wasnt seeing things. People were polite, but I felt reserved for that performance.
I would have gone nuts for Anna.
Are the Russians just reserved, even about their own stars? I would not have said so in the past.

Julia got the biggest applause then Elena

 

[CoyoteChris]

Thanks to all! Very interesting perspectives.
Julia seems to have gotten her act together and survived the growth spurt. I would have applauded her too.

 

[Alexz]

Yeah. Russians are generally a very calm and reserved when it comes to showing emotions. And at the same time they are like kids sometimes - they can't hide their emotions, or more correct to say: they never bother to hide their true feelings. If they like you - you should be sure you will def be invited always and everywhere, be given a compliment (only if it's well deserved, certainly) and feel like a million bucks, but if they don't like you - oh, watch out, certainly they will let you know about it. One way or another. Most likely in a polite manner, sometimes not so. One way or another, you will always know where you stand with them. They respect your brutal honesty in return. They basically are quite frank folks, very straightforward almost borderline of being impolite.

Phenomena of Lipnitskaya's über popularity in Russia is very easy explainable. Russians are such suckers for underdogs. Russians can be cruel to their enemies, and extremely mean and cruel to them after they defeat them, but they can cry over the dead little butterfly, at the same time they can without the a single doubt spend their last penny to feed hungry homeless people or adopt a stray puppy while living themselves in a small studio specially barely enough for 1 person. Their choices and decisions are mystery sometimes to me.

Russians mostly grow up on their cartoons, fairytales, kids books, which are mostly about variations of Cinderella type of story: work hard, be a good person, bring kindness to the world - you will reach the top and and your dreams will come true. They also more appreciate people who fight and work hard to win, not those who are not born with a silver spoon in a mouth. They respect more people who overcome obstacles, bad luck and own physical abilities than those who just lucky and given everything on a silver platter. So in their eyes Yulia is a some kind of sick cute puppy so to speak. And Anna is a strong, adult and self-confident independent young woman. And in their eyes they feel that Anna is already has what it gets, most of them were sure about Anna's triumph, they certainly admired her, but secretly routed for Yulia. Go figure. =)

Russia's history for the last thousand years can be described with one short word: struggle. Constant struggle. Cold, unfavorable natural conditions, constant invasions (now they have top notch museums which covers every single war they had in great detail), wars with neighbors for survival or territorial disputes, civil wars, palace coups, government takeovers and overturns, huge fires which burned their capital and other big ancient cities, famishments, psychotic tyrannic and weak tsars (there were 2-3 of those +Stalin) and a lot other cataclysm. I think you barely would find a peaceful prolonged period of Russia's history, it always was a path of struggle and dealing with troubles for their nation, or plotting and looking for troubles themselves. Lol. "You give Russia s good 20 years of peace - you won't recognize Russia" one of great Russian said that, don't remember who exactly tho.

So, naturally Yulia alwyas would have a special place in any Russian heart. She is a natural underdog, she is a shortie which in Russia always a bonus (in terms of PCS ), she is struggling through her troubles and issues, she is a fighter, she is not faking anything and very honest with herself and her fans. So all of the above are making her Russian public's favorite. They clapped and wholeheartedly sincerely congratulated Anna, but they surely wanted Yulia at least give it a good fight, and when Yulia got injured, even the tough Russian heart melted, so extra cheer and applause to Yulia is very well understandable.

Russians feel and express their emotions on the whole another level, they usually don't like our typical Hollywood chick flicks, heroic blockbuster with predictable "we won them all and saved the planet" happy ending or cheesy melodramas. They usually ridicule and giggle about the stupidity of those movies. Their taste is more European I would say. They want struggle, pain and drama in their movies. Something really deep, something to think about for a week. Something about compassion works too. And preferably without happy ending as most of artsy European indie movies are. This makes them feel alive. They don't like to be in calm and success bubble for too long. They basically believe true artist should always struggle because of something, should always strive for something big (and most likely unreachable dream) or and be "hungry" figuratively speaking. This main idea is plastered though all their movies, most of rock songs, folk ballads, books (cmon Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Bulgakov), poetry, epos, children's stories and etc.

There are many things what can average Russian tick, but the thing that works all the time is when other people (movie hero, artist, dancer, etc) are struggling and overcoming difficulties. They respect the fight and overcoming difficulties, they believe it's always should be like this. If you stop, you might be as well be dead, empty, pathetic and weak. Look at Tamara Moskvina. She is a good example of The Russian. They generally think the rest is only good when you are dead. I hear they use a saying: a fool would never give his legs a good rest. Or: a fool would never find a place to rest. Meaning: something about ironically describing themselves as people who are simply can't be happy with that they achieved, but yet still should keep moving forward and strive for even more perfection. It's in their DNA, some sort of national mentality already. Obviously they are very overly (and unbearably sometimes too) über competitive by nature.

There are also no half-measures with ze Russkies too: if they love - it's a true love indeed, if they hate you - you will be the first to know (there are no faking, no polite pretending, it's very straightforward), if you are drinking and partying with Russians - be sure you will get very drunk too, even against your own will (unless it's just a small get-together for a short drink and chat), if you are their friend - you would feel like a million bucks, if they are at war with you - there would be no mercy, unless they see a sick cute little puppy need to be taken care of and they might forget about you.

So: compassion, struggle, constant fighting through and starving for perfection (even if it's not possible and unreachable) All those qualities surely can be applied to a lot of other nations too, but it's only in Russia those are taking to such extremeness. For example if it's a theater they build - it's just gotta be Bolshoi (Big), if it's a skyscraper - they want to make sure it will be the tallest, if they strive for perfection - they will starve and use every resources they have to get there. It's all very well described in their art, music, architecture, literature and aesthetic tastes. One should read Dostoevsky and listen to Rachmaninoff or Tchaikovsky closely in order to understand that.

All Eastern Europeans are like that, especially Slavs, but in Russia it is more obvious and bold. You start reading Dostoevsky - you would hate writer for his dark, mysterious and depressing text, but won't be able to quit reading his book until you get to the end, because his book despite about pain and struggle is actually making you feel alive. You will hate Dostoevsky a lot afterwards... until you feel strong desire to read another book of his, and start hating him even more, but still will keep reading more and more. Same with Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky music.

So Russia's über love for Yulia Lipnitskaya is understandable. She is their sick puppy, a very tear-jerking moment. Very dramatic and honest. Anna is loved too - it's obviously a poor young Black Swan turning into stunning tsarina White Swan type of situation. But Julia is more drama, and Russians love drama, they always would cheer for underdogs more. At least that's my little theory.

Hope this explains it a little, Chris *handshake*

 

[Fetinia]

.... "You give Russia s good 20 years of peace - you won't recognize Russia" one of great Russian said that, don't remember who exactly tho. ...

Pyotr Stolypin

 

[CoyoteChris]

Spokane county had, as of 2001, many refugees from the Soviet Union, mostly Russian and Ukranians. I am sure there many more now...

"For the past decade, Spokane has seen a replay of that early burst of immigration. The Solodyankins are among thousands who have emigrated from the provinces of the former Soviet Union and who now call Spokane home. No one knows for sure, but educated guessers say anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 refugees from the former Soviet Union have resettled in Spokane since 1989. "

http://www.inlander.com/spokane/starting-fresh-in-spokane/Content?oid=2173220

 

[plushyfan]

Spokane county had, as of 2001, many refugees from the Soviet Union, mostly Russian and Ukranians. I am sure there many more now...

"For the past decade, Spokane has seen a replay of that early burst of immigration. The Solodyankins are among thousands who have emigrated from the provinces of the former Soviet Union and who now call Spokane home. No one knows for sure, but educated guessers say anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 refugees from the former Soviet Union have resettled in Spokane since 1989. "

http://www.inlander.com/spokane/starting-fresh-in-spokane/Content?oid=2173220

What to do with the CoR to? In the former Soviet block's countries many people believed in the " American dream". Of course when many people had chance to emigrate, they did it.

But most of the Russians love Russia so much. This is my experience. And look at Russia ( I know they are in trouble because of the sanctions and the low oil prices ) he developed a lot

the new Moscow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeKaN1q81ks amazing, dont you think? - culture, history, modernity..

and St. Petersburg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IjXzjfzMlk another incredible city..the Russians protect their cultural values

 

[Alexz]

I guess I could put this here.

What happened?

Alexandrov Ensemble: The 'Red Army' choir loved by Russia
http://youtu.be/-qvyxQ00dlo

Russia mourns plane crash victims:
http://youtu.be/y7-JndUIw_w

Artists worldwide mourn lost colleagues & friends
http://youtu.be/CjmM5KVJjSA

Few musicians, few ballerinas, singers (mostly), few prominent leaders of humanitarian charities organization. 92 in total. All gone. All singers of famous Alexandrov's ensemble are gone now..

Alexander Alexandrov was a Russian composer, he toured front lines during WW2 and performed for troops. He is also the author of the current Russian anthem. There is some power, strength and drama flow in his music. this ensemble dating back to 1920s subsequently was named in Alexandrov's name.

This ensemble was touring the world a lot even at the current times. Concerts, humanitarian missions, disaster relief. Their reach was truly worldwide. Those Russian male choirs are usually seriously cool. Check this out if you want to wow! Reportedly they were gonna perform at Hmeymim airbase for Christmas day, then in Latakia and later at Aleppo for New Years. Human rights fighter and humanitarian charity organization leader 'Doctor Liza' and her charity were bringing medicine, blankets, candies to Syria.

Those guys knew it's better to sing than to fight.. *salute*

Alexandrov Ensemble performing in the Vatican:
http://youtu.be/EkdmcAuY2Dk

This one is uber funny: Russian army doing Gangnam Style to Bad Romance
http://youtu.be/9l0ck4mF_l0

Adele's Skywall - cover:
http://youtu.be/H9jClSJozaI

Daft Punk - Get lucky - cover:
http://youtu.be/UhPZYSmjc3M

We Are The Champions at Crimson Sails Festival in St. Petersburg:
http://youtu.be/HiDAQQngzT0

This one is especially powerful - AMENO - Vincent Niclo & Choir of the Red Army
http://youtu.be/yThA5c_3Lds

Besame Mucho - Russian Military Academic Alexandrov Ensemble:
http://youtu.be/lyTPJK_X8g4

MVD Choir - Show must go on - cover
http://youtu.be/8fEbMhR_qXk

Christmasy: Red Army Choir - Silent Night
http://youtu.be/fJhB-z5r8bk

A closer look at the Alexandrov Ensemble by Chinese CCTV-English TV:
http://youtu.be/kw6bqeiEZlg

Victory Day - Alexandrov Ensemble (Red Army Choir)
http://youtu.be/_AsgSPIIEqo

Alexandrov Ensemble @ Eurovision
http://youtu.be/0RDtr5fAU1g

Leningrad Cowboys & Alexandrov Ensemble - Knockin' on Heaven's Door
http://youtu.be/5pPp3ynFUKw

The Sacred War - Alexandrov Red Army Choir (SUBTITLES)
http://youtu.be/7aEF1qgIFfE

Folk Songs (few shorties at Eurovision. song contest) - Red Army Choir
http://youtu.be/Q-jsXGLysCU

Polish song Oka for Pope in Vatican - Russian Red Army Choir in Vatican
http://youtu.be/xynusDgSWdM

From Italian opera Nabucco - Va, Pensiero - Russian Red Army Choir in Vatican (SUBTITLES)
http://youtu.be/caupqMpmCD8

Luciano Pavarotti & Red Army Choir & Vincent Niclo - Funiculi Funicula (Simplement pour un soir)
http://youtu.be/il7uAl4DUJA

t.A.T.u. - Not Gonna Get Us (ft. Red Army Choir) HD
http://youtu.be/lNoNO7XFkNc

French singer Mireille Mathieu is cool, apparently she is a fan and knows some Russian songs. 2013 10 12
http://youtu.be/NKaFQeUURUA

Hallelujah. Alexandrovci R.I.P.
http://youtu.be/lTCzKFWQtrI

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I guess I could put this here.

I put my tribute in the "What are you listening to right now?" thread.

The following is not a criticism, just a piece of friendly advice.

You have to be very careful when linking to music from the "Red Army Choir". Because there are a few different Red Army Choirs doing the rounds. And not all the videos you linked to are of the Alexandrov Ensemble.

As well as the Alexandrov Enseble (who were the first Red Army Choir I heard when they collaborated with Finnish band the Leningrad Cowboys), there is the Federov Ensemble (who I have a CD of), and the MVD Ensemble.

The MVD Ensemble are the Red Army Choir who appear in the following videos you linked to:

Adele's Skywall - cover:
http://youtu.be/H9jClSJozaI

Daft Punk - Get lucky - cover:
http://youtu.be/UhPZYSmjc3M

This one is especially powerful - AMENO - Vincent Niclo & Choir of the Red Army
http://youtu.be/yThA5c_3Lds

MVD Choir - Show must go on - cover
http://youtu.be/8fEbMhR_qXk

Luciano Pavarotti & Red Army Choir & Vincent Niclo - Funiculi Funicula (Simplement pour un soir)
http://youtu.be/il7uAl4DUJA

French singer Mireille Mathieu is cool, apparently she is a fan and knows some Russian songs. 2013 10 12
http://youtu.be/NKaFQeUURUA​

Incidentally, the MVD Ensemble collaborated with French singer Vincent Niclo to record what I consider to be the definitive version of La Marseillaise.

This video is from yet another Ensemble that I had not come across before:

We Are The Champions at Crimson Sails Festival in St. Petersburg:
http://youtu.be/HiDAQQngzT0​

And I don't know which Ensemble are in the following videos:

This one is uber funny: Russian army doing Gangnam Style to Bad Romance
http://youtu.be/9l0ck4mF_l0

Christmasy: Red Army Choir - Silent Night
http://youtu.be/fJhB-z5r8bk

t.A.T.u. - Not Gonna Get Us (ft. Red Army Choir) HD
http://youtu.be/lNoNO7XFkNc​

The rest of the videos are of the Alexandrov Ensemble.

Don't worry, from looking at the comments on the videos, you are not the only person that is getting caught out by there being so many Red Army Choirs.

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan

 

[topaz emerald]

Yeah. Russians are generally a very calm and reserved when it comes to showing emotions. And at the same time they are like kids sometimes - they can't hide their emotions, or more correct to say: they never bother to hide their true feelings. If they like you - you should be sure you will def be invited always and everywhere, be given a compliment (only if it's well deserved, certainly) and feel like a million bucks, but if they don't like you - oh, watch out, certainly they will let you know about it. One way or another. Most likely in a polite manner, sometimes not so. One way or another, you will always know where you stand with them. They respect your brutal honesty in return. They basically are quite frank folks, very straightforward almost borderline of being impolite.

Phenomena of Lipnitskaya's über popularity in Russia is very easy explainable. Russians are such suckers for underdogs. Russians can be cruel to their enemies, and extremely mean and cruel to them after they defeat them, but they can cry over the dead little butterfly, at the same time they can without the a single doubt spend their last penny to feed hungry homeless people or adopt a stray puppy while living themselves in a small studio specially barely enough for 1 person. Their choices and decisions are mystery sometimes to me.

Russians mostly grow up on their cartoons, fairytales, kids books, which are mostly about variations of Cinderella type of story: work hard, be a good person, bring kindness to the world - you will reach the top and and your dreams will come true. They also more appreciate people who fight and work hard to win, not those who are not born with a silver spoon in a mouth. They respect more people who overcome obstacles, bad luck and own physical abilities than those who just lucky and given everything on a silver platter. So in their eyes Yulia is a some kind of sick cute puppy so to speak. And Anna is a strong, adult and self-confident independent young woman. And in their eyes they feel that Anna is already has what it gets, most of them were sure about Anna's triumph, they certainly admired her, but secretly routed for Yulia. Go figure. =)

Russia's history for the last thousand years can be described with one short word: struggle. Constant struggle. Cold, unfavorable natural conditions, constant invasions (now they have top notch museums which covers every single war they had in great detail), wars with neighbors for survival or territorial disputes, civil wars, palace coups, government takeovers and overturns, huge fires which burned their capital and other big ancient cities, famishments, psychotic tyrannic and weak tsars (there were 2-3 of those +Stalin) and a lot other cataclysm. I think you barely would find a peaceful prolonged period of Russia's history, it always was a path of struggle and dealing with troubles for their nation, or plotting and looking for troubles themselves. Lol. "You give Russia s good 20 years of peace - you won't recognize Russia" one of great Russian said that, don't remember who exactly tho.

So, naturally Yulia alwyas would have a special place in any Russian heart. She is a natural underdog, she is a shortie which in Russia always a bonus (in terms of PCS ), she is struggling through her troubles and issues, she is a fighter, she is not faking anything and very honest with herself and her fans. So all of the above are making her Russian public's favorite. They clapped and wholeheartedly sincerely congratulated Anna, but they surely wanted Yulia at least give it a good fight, and when Yulia got injured, even the tough Russian heart melted, so extra cheer and applause to Yulia is very well understandable.

Russians feel and express their emotions on the whole another level, they usually don't like our typical Hollywood chick flicks, heroic blockbuster with predictable "we won them all and saved the planet" happy ending or cheesy melodramas. They usually ridicule and giggle about the stupidity of those movies. Their taste is more European I would say. They want struggle, pain and drama in their movies. Something really deep, something to think about for a week. Something about compassion works too. And preferably without happy ending as most of artsy European indie movies are. This makes them feel alive. They don't like to be in calm and success bubble for too long. They basically believe true artist should always struggle because of something, should always strive for something big (and most likely unreachable dream) or and be "hungry" figuratively speaking. This main idea is plastered though all their movies, most of rock songs, folk ballads, books (cmon Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Bulgakov), poetry, epos, children's stories and etc.

There are many things what can average Russian tick, but the thing that works all the time is when other people (movie hero, artist, dancer, etc) are struggling and overcoming difficulties. They respect the fight and overcoming difficulties, they believe it's always should be like this. If you stop, you might be as well be dead, empty, pathetic and weak. Look at Tamara Moskvina. She is a good example of The Russian. They generally think the rest is only good when you are dead. I hear they use a saying: a fool would never give his legs a good rest. Or: a fool would never find a place to rest. Meaning: something about ironically describing themselves as people who are simply can't be happy with that they achieved, but yet still should keep moving forward and strive for even more perfection. It's in their DNA, some sort of national mentality already. Obviously they are very overly (and unbearably sometimes too) über competitive by nature.

There are also no half-measures with ze Russkies too: if they love - it's a true love indeed, if they hate you - you will be the first to know (there are no faking, no polite pretending, it's very straightforward), if you are drinking and partying with Russians - be sure you will get very drunk too, even against your own will (unless it's just a small get-together for a short drink and chat), if you are their friend - you would feel like a million bucks, if they are at war with you - there would be no mercy, unless they see a sick cute little puppy need to be taken care of and they might forget about you.

So: compassion, struggle, constant fighting through and starving for perfection (even if it's not possible and unreachable) All those qualities surely can be applied to a lot of other nations too, but it's only in Russia those are taking to such extremeness. For example if it's a theater they build - it's just gotta be Bolshoi (Big), if it's a skyscraper - they want to make sure it will be the tallest, if they strive for perfection - they will starve and use every resources they have to get there. It's all very well described in their art, music, architecture, literature and aesthetic tastes. One should read Dostoevsky and listen to Rachmaninoff or Tchaikovsky closely in order to understand that.

All Eastern Europeans are like that, especially Slavs, but in Russia it is more obvious and bold. You start reading Dostoevsky - you would hate writer for his dark, mysterious and depressing text, but won't be able to quit reading his book until you get to the end, because his book despite about pain and struggle is actually making you feel alive. You will hate Dostoevsky a lot afterwards... until you feel strong desire to read another book of his, and start hating him even more, but still will keep reading more and more. Same with Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky music.

So Russia's über love for Yulia Lipnitskaya is understandable. She is their sick puppy, a very tear-jerking moment. Very dramatic and honest. Anna is loved too - it's obviously a poor young Black Swan turning into stunning tsarina White Swan type of situation. But Julia is more drama, and Russians love drama, they always would cheer for underdogs more. At least that's my little theory.

Hope this explains it a little, Chris *handshake*

Wow, you wrote a lot and certainly seem to know a lot about the mentality of Russians. I've only met one Russian person my whole life...I'm still relatively young. She was my boss, a store manager at a local mall when I was 18-19 years old. I worked there part time to help pay for my college tuition. I can tell you that from my experience working with her, she was very strict, blunt, but fair. I met the big boss of the store once during the Christmas holidays...I had a late shift and he stopped by to see how things were going at the store. His name was Alex and the store manager's name was Ella (can't believe I still remember their names), but before he left the store, he handed me a box of Godiva chocolate and also handed them out to the rest of my coworkers...also asked how I was doing at work and even in school. Later I found out he hired only college students and most worked part time. Ella was strict, VERY BLUNT, for example, if she didn't like something or the way you did something, she'd tell you, no sugar coating. In fact, one day, Ella was very upset by one of my coworkers who did something without permission which made Ella annoyed, and after talking to the girl about it, the next day, the girl never showed up to work, lol, yet Ella still showed concern and wanted me to call her to ask her if she was coming back to work, lol. Another time, my studies were getting to be so much that I couldn't handle working and studying at the same time, and after speaking to them about it, she decided to give me a one dollar raise, haha. So I gave in, but I only lasted six more months before I finally had to quit. Anyway, she was strict, blunt, practical, but in my mind, fair. I don't know if all Russians are this way, but that's my experience having met one or two Russians when i was a student.

 

[plushyfan]

I'm in shock. I adored the Alexandrov Ensemble... I listened their songs on Youtube..

 

[Alexz]

I put my tribute in the "What are you listening to right now?" thread.

The following is not a criticism, just a piece of friendly advice.

You have to be very careful when linking to music from the "Red Army Choir". Because there are a few different Red Army Choirs doing the rounds. And not all the videos you linked to are of the Alexandrov Ensemble.

The rest of the videos are of the Alexandrov Ensemble.

Don't worry, from looking at the comments on the videos, you are not the only person that is getting caught out by there being so many Red Army Choirs.

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan

Oh, thanks! I recall this MVD choir at Sochi Olympics entertaining everyone with pop/rock songs. But yeah, I see a difference between MVD and Alexandrov ensemble now more clear.

 

[luckyguy]

I'm in shock. I adored the Alexandrov Ensemble... I listened their songs on Youtube..

The cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo are not shocked.

What can I say when I see such cynicism? Je ne suis pas Charlie!

 

[Arriba627]

Strange culture question - don't know if anyone can answer. Not too long ago, TAT called my favorite male skater " potato nose". At first, I thought "What?! Why would you say that about anyone?" And since I can't stand the fad about being offended about everything, I did a little investigating instead. Turns out she LOVES this skater, constantly praises him, and calls him my boy, my little kid, etc. So my question is -- I know in some cultures, people actually pick a facial or other physical feature and come up with a nickname / pet name for someone based on that feature. It's more like a term of endearment. Is that something that Russian people do? Thx if anyone can answer.

 

[plushyfan]

The cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo are not shocked.

What can I say when I see such cynicism? Je ne suis pas Charlie!

There are things which should never joke ..


A classic from the Red Army choir https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPeriSAdum0 -Red Army Choir Polyushka Polye -one of my favorite Russian songs so much talent!!!!

another classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLg83QMmlGs&list=RDMLg83QMmlGs#t=0 - Red Army Choir Katusha :thumbsup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F832ZZNRV0 - Skyfall (Adele)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fEbMhR_qXk - Show must go on... yes, the show must go on