By Tim Badgley
Bristol Consolidated School students and faculty are learning about, participating in, and celebrating Russian culture during the school’s Diversity Week.
Dancers with Russian troupe Barynya perform with lit candles balanced on their heads for the students at Bristol Consolidated School during the opening of Diversity Week at the school May 12. (Tim Badgley photo) |
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The performance group Barynya will teach the students about Russian culture through dance, music, language, and classroom activities throughout the week of May 12 to 16, culminating in a performance open to the public.
The week’s activities began at Monday morning assembly with a performance of dance and music.
Students and teachers were greeted by Barynya’s musical director Elina Karokhina, who opened the program by introducing the two dancers of the troupe, Valentina Kvasova and Olga Chpitalnaia.
Dressed in Russian costumes, the dancers each lit a small candle in a holder which they then placed on their heads and began a slow dance to what Karokhina called traditional Russian music.
Karokhina thanked the students and teachers and then said “thank you” in Russian, asking her audience to repeat it with her several times.
The program continued with Karokhina playing a solo on the balalaika, a stringed instrument with a triangle-shaped body. During the solo, the troupe’s founder, Mikhail Smirnov, danced and clowned in a large bear costume, evoking laughter and applause from the children and teachers.
Several more dances were performed and Smirnov returned in a traditional Russian costume to play a small accordion-like instrument, accompanying Karokhina on the balalaika.
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Two students present gifts of handmade world pins to members of the Russian troupe Barynya to welcome them as honored guests of Russian culture week at Bristol Consolidated School. (Tim Badgley photo) |
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The program concluded with faculty member Andrea Cough and two students presenting the members of Barynya with a gift.
“One of the traditions we have at our school is making world pins,” Cough said. The students create pins in different colors to remind them of the different countries they have studied, according to Principal Jennifer Ribeiro.
As the troupe received their pins, Cough said, “This is our way of remembering the specialness of diversity and the specialness of having you here as our guests.”
Barynya will perform a concert from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Friday, May 16 in the Bristol Consolidated School gymnasium. The event is free and open to the public.
