YT Files – Blog by Yuliya Talmazan Blogging about Russia

Volunteers From Russia Help Out With 2010 Paralympics Ahead Of The Sochi Games: “We Are Here To Absorb Like Sponges”

If you stop a random person in the middle of the street anywhere in North America and ask them if they have ever volunteered their time for any cause before, the answer is most likely “yes.” In North America, it is kind of hard to get through high school and than college and than your post-college days without doing some sort of volunteer work. Russia is different in that respect. It is not that people do no want to volunteer their time in Russia. It is just that culturally people are used to getting paid for the work they do. In Russia, there is a notion that a person who works for you has to be paid or else you just do not hire them.

So when I found out that a group of Russian volunteers is arriving in Vancouver to help out with the Paralympic Games, I was a little skeptical. As I learned later, a group of 20 young men and women from Russia landed in YVR on March 2 to spend 21 days in Whistler for the Paralympics. Their goal? To watch, help out, make mistakes and learn…

Russian volunteers cheering for Paralympians, Whistler Olympic Park

I got to chat with one of the girls on the team named Vera Orlova when I went down to Whistler to watch Paralympic cross-country skiing last weekend. Slender, beamish Orlova donning the all-too-familiar Vancouver 2010 blue volunteer jacket said the team’s goal is “to absorb everything like a sponge.” Than, she said, it is going to be all about giving it all back.

Vera sat down with me to chat about the program as we were waiting for the women’s sitting 10k race to start. She and a few of her teammates had a day-off and got a chance to go see a sports event. Vera personally works at the Olympic village, going on errands for the Russian Paralympic team to help out with whatever needs to be done. As I was talking to her, I could not help but think that these guys are plain simple just happy to be here. “You know, as I was watching the broadcast of the Opening Ceremonies at the athletes village with the rest of the team, I still had to pinch myself to believe that I am actually here.” And from what she was telling me, it seemed like they had one hard journey to even make it on the plane to Vancouver.

Vera is from Tumen, a remote region in Russia where all the Russian oil is. But her teammates are literally from all over the place. All of the potential candidates for the project “Sochi-Vancouver-Sochi” were carefully selected in Russia’s bid to send a team to Vancouver that can learn as much as possible about the way volunteer task force was organized here to try to do the same in Sochi in four-years time. Vera says she had to go through round after round of an intense selection process that began in April of last year – voluminous applications, interviews, leadership skills assessment, communication prowess – all that was carefully looked at by the Sochi 2014 Olympic Organizing Committee to send out a team that could actually learn in Canada.

But, now that the best of the best are finally in Vancouver, Vera says they have to keep their eyes open and brains flexible.

“We came here to see how events of this scale are staged, how the volunteers are organized and how the duties are separated between the non-paid volunteers and salaried staff. So, we are taking notes if we think something could have been done better. And, we analyze a lot...”

Vera says they have to learn about resource management - things that happened in Vancouver, like having way too many volunteers at a single location and not enough at other venues. She says it was also surprising for them to see how much emphasis Canadians put on safety and sustainability.

“Another thing that was interesting to us was that the bulk of volunteers here in Canada are older people. I think the idea for Sochi is to aim for a much younger volunteer force.”

In 2011, Russia will start hiring volunteers for Sochi, and it has to find 25,000 of them just for the venues.

Vera says she thinks getting 25,000 young people to help out is not the biggest problem. “Getting that many people who can speak English and understand the mentality of foreigners could be a bit of a challenge.”

Me with Vera Orlova during the interview, Whistler Olympic Park

Vera Orlova giving the inteview, Whistler Olympic Park

I asked Vera if she thinks not getting paid will be a problem. Vera says she thinks the concept of donating one’s time is not foreign to Russians. Using the term “volunteering” to describe it though is new and something that Vera says might make some people question not getting paid. Even still, in Vera’s opinion the interest for the Sochi games is genuinely high in Russia.

So what is next, I asked.

Vera says coming down to Vancouver for Paralympics made her re-visit the concept of disability.  It comes down to the perception of disability that still lingers in Russia.

“People with disability do not have a suitable environment to live and work in back at home. So, when we came to Vancouver, we realized that everything here is designed with equality in mind. It is amazing. The athletes on the Russian Paralympic team would approach us and ask us to go down to Vancouver and get them stuff. But, we would say, ‘you know, there is nothing preventing you from going downtown Vancouver and accessing anywhere you want to go to yourselves.’ It is not like that in Russia…”

“I think my attitude toward disability completely changed. I know that I won’t see disabled people quite the same way when I go back. I used to feel uncomfortable and sorry for people with disabilities. But, looking at Paralympians, there is this amazing spiritual beauty about them. I definitely want to strive for bigger things in my life now that I have been to Paralympics. Working side by side with some of these athletes makes your realize just how little you have accomplished…”

As for the next step for the Sochi volunteer recruitment, Vera says they are going home on March 23, and that is when the work really begins.

“We will act sort of like the nucleus around which a web of like-minded individuals will be weaved.”

The group is hoping to go to London in 2012 as well. Vera says they are optimistically cautious and periodically checking London 2012 website, just in case…The team is also hoping to help out with the first-ever youth Olympic Games that will be taking place in Singapore later this year.

Me with Team Russia volunteers, Whistler Olympic Park

YTFILES - Good luck to the volunteer team and big thanks for talking to YTFILES! It really felt like the team was excited to learn and help out with things, so I hope their knowledge and newly acquired skills are going to be put to good use in Russia.

Meanwhile, the medal tally for the Russian Paralympic Team stands at 38 medals as of Sunday afternoon. Way to go, team Russia!

Team Russia Leads In Paralympic Medal Standings After Day 1 In Vancouver

Team Russia, from Flickr stream of Sochi 2014 Winter Games

How ironic. Russian Paralympic team is leading in medal standings with three gold, three silver and two bronze medals after one day of competition. By comparison, Russian Olympic team earned one medal on the first day of the Games. In fact, that medal remained the only one for Russia for another three competition days. Overall, Russian Olympians won 15 medals, only three of which were gold. Deemed a fiasco, the performance of Russian Olympic athletes became the subject of many a headline in Russia throughout and after the Games. The country is still trying to understand what happened and who is to blame.

But, Russian Paralympians made a powerful statement with their performance today. It is not about the funding you get. It is not about being treated as royalty at the Russia House. It is not even about the support you get (as the dwindling numbers of team Russia supporters for the Paralympic Games in Vancouver have shown). But, as cliche as it sounds, when you do not have fat contracts and promotion deals to fall back on, you just tend to perform like there is no tomorrow.

Here are the names of the amazing Paralympians who won medals for Russia today:

Liubov Vasilyeva
Mikhalina Lysova
Nikolay Polukhin
Anna Burmistrova
Alena Gorbunova
Kirill Mikhaylov
Maria Iovleva
Irek Zaripov

To them, "impossible is just a word and a distraction..."

Go, team Russia!

P.S.: I will be going to Whistler to see the cross-country skiing events tomorrow. I am super excited to cheer for the Paralympians. Stay tune for my report featuring the members of the Russian volunteer teem who are here to help out with the Paralympics and gain the valuable experience ahead of Sochi 2014.

YTFiles is back

Hi guys.

I have been away at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, working for NBC. I will be back to blogging now, so please check back to YTFiles.com for new and exciting stuff, as well as some Olympic recaps.

Yuliya

Akhe Theatre: Russian Chaos Descends On Vancouver

The White Cabin

When I found out that Russian Theatre Akhe was making its way to Vancouver for the 2010 Cultural Olympiad, I got moderately excited. It is always a treat to see any kind of Russian theatre here in Canada, but I had no idea what Akhe Theatre was. When I started researching them, I was amazed to find out that the theatre has existed for 21 years now, which made me even more incredulous that I have never heard of them. Turned out Akhe is not your typical Russian theatre. In fact, it is very radically different. Akhe was created as an anti-statement to the classic Russian theatrical tradition. They don’t do Chekhov or Dostoevsky, nor do they try to convey any messages or set any contexts for their audience. When Akhe is on stage, it is always up to the viewer to try to make sense of it all. After watching their performance last week, my advice is  - if you ever get a chance to see them, leave your logic at home, sit back and enjoy this Russian take on chaos.

I made a request with Akhe to interview them upon their arrival in Vancouver, which they have kindly agreed to. I was determined to watch their show before I sat down to talk with them, so I went last Thursday. The first thing that struck me when I entered the Performance Works Theatre on Granville Island in time for the 8 PM showing of Akhe’s White Cabin was a note on the wall that said, “WARNING: NUDITY AND SMOKING INVOLVED.” Turned out later there was not just nudity, and a LOT of smoking, but a lot of alcohol, water, ropes and newspapers involved too.

Backstage with Akhe

All throughout the play, I was stunned by how such powerful mental images could be created with completely minimalist tools, many of which actor Maxim Isaev says they pack with them from Russia. Whatever else they need, gets made on the spot. As I was talking to Maxim, actress Natasha Shamina was hard at work cutting a piece of white fabric for a makeshift prop for Friday night’s performance. I was also let in on a secret that all the wine and cigarettes consumed during the performance are absolutely real. Isaev says it is part of who they are as an “engineering” theatre, where it is not just about an actor on stage, but a combination of objects, light, sound and the perception of space – something no one else in Russia has attempted to immitate yet.

I asked Maxim if they chose the White Cabin for Vancouver because it has virtually no text, and so would be understandable across cultures. It turned out that most of Akhe’s shows intentionally have no words in them, whether shown in Russia or abroad. But, it seems the theatre has a special attachment to the White Cabin. The show has been in production for 14 years now, but Isaev says he never gets bored doing it.

“It was made to grow up with us … we change, it changes. It is about the things that are interesting to us all the time, regardless of what is going on.”

What became a revelation to me in the course of my conversation with Maxim was the way people perceive the White Cabin here vs. in Russia. Apparently, the way people choose to concentrate their attention is different. For example, Isaev said they were surprised by how much people laugh during their performances in Canada. As I was talking to Maxim, Natasha Shamina passed by and said with a bit of irony that one of the viewers came forward after one of their shows in Vancouver and said their performance was very funny. But, Maxim says the White Cabin was created to draw little if any laughter. Cultural differences? Isaev says it is hard to say because when people go to see them in Russia, they sort of know what to expect. For an unprepared viewer, Akhe can definitely be a riddle.

Maxim Isaev

As I was talking to Maxim, I could not help but think that it just can’t be the same person whom I saw on the stage yesterday. It was bizarre to meet these very abstract characters in person and see real people behind them. Maxim shared that they liked Vancouver a lot because to them it was unusual. When I asked what was so unusual about Vancouver, he said it had a very pleasant sensation of space. Coming from someone who gets to play with the concept of space on a daily basis, I thought it was an interesting observation about this city. But, it turned out it was not the first time in Canada for Akhe. They toured Quebec four years ago.

The theatre is now done with the PUsh Festival and is off to Toronto and Quebec City. I found out they no longer have a place to call home back in Russia. Their theatre in St. Petersburg was closed down over a fire threat concern after the tragic events at a Perm nightclub where over a hundred people died in a fire that started over faulty firecrackers. Given how much fire and smoke Akhe uses in their shows, it was deemed unsafe. So the theatre is going nomadic for now, visiting numerous countries on their way back. If you get a chance to catch up with them anywhere, you have my thumbs up.

Akhe’s Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/akhe/
Akhe's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/akhegroup

Worker And Kolkhoz Woman: A Soviet-era Monument Finds Its Way Back Into Moscow’s Landscape

Photo by Flickr user Intubator

Some call it the symbol of an era, others - a gigantic reminder of communism. The monument was gone for so long, Muscovites have almost forgotten about this enormity of a statue. But, the legendary 24-meter high monument of the Worker And Kolkhoz Woman is back next to Moscow's landmark All-Russia Exhibition Centre after six years of renovations. This ginormous 185-tonne statue was erected in 1939 and became the embodiment of the social ideals -- a mighty worker forging the nation's well-being with his hammer side by the side with an imposing Kolkhoz woman sure to feed the nation with her wheat-cutting sickle. The statue's idealistic design was bang on at the time, but is it relevant now? And, was it really worth it to spend six years of renovators' time and over a billion rubles to resurrect this symbol of the past? The grand re-opening of the monument was attended by hundreds of people, marked with fireworks and festivities. But, why all the buzz about the seemingly retrograde monument?

Well, the Worker And Kolkhoz Woman gained more of a cultural meaning throughout the years -- and the reason for that was the statue's use in movie pre-views. For millions of people in the Soviet Union, it became completely associated with movie openers -- much like the catchy tune and the sky-beaming projectors of the 20th century fox film studios that opened many of the Hollywood-made flicks. One of the biggest film production studios in the Soviet Union -- Mosfilm used the monument as their logo since 1947. Every movie made by Mosfilm opened with a video clip of the statue, so really any of the socialistic meanings that the statue's creators might have intended for it were pretty much erased by years of associations with the movie industry. So for one, I am glad to see the statue back, and not for any political reasons, but more for a nostalgic yearning to see a cultural symbol back.