The State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble is known and loved the whole world over. Everyone knows it simply as the Moiseev Ensemble. The name of the maestro who created this unique dance company easily outshines all the major prizes the ensemble has won. And it’s like a magic password – you immediately know who is meant.
The ensemble’s concerts are always a celebration, full of joy and amazing discoveries, because folk dances reveal the people’s soul, its culture and spirit. I’ve always been struck during performances by the Moiseev ensemble by the way they use dance to paint pictures as vividly as if they were using a brush and paint. In the one-act ballet “On the Skating Rink”, for example, the dancers on the stage portray skating on ice. It’s such an incredible impression! And of course, behind all the beauty, skill and fantastic technique lies a huge amount of hard work and discipline.
It’s no surprise that the ensemble’s performances have always had (and continue to have) such enormous success. During the Soviet period the company often performed an important diplomatic mission in addition to its artistic role, helping to bring down the “iron curtain” between the USSR and the West.
Despite the fact that the company has existed for three years now without Igor Aleksandrovich, you get the impression that he’s somewhere nearby – they often mention him and quote him. His views on his profession, on people and on the world around him permeate the entire company. Before he died the maestro managed not only to create a dance technique all of his own (he’s often called the “Stanislavsky of dance”), but also to lay down some very important underlying values. And I think it’s this that helps the company to remain the Moiseev Ensemble. The ballets, miniatures, suites and dance pictures created by the maestro live on.
I adore this ensemble and all its productions, and I’ve dreamed for a long time of making a programme about them. Anyone who has seen a concert by the Moiseev ensemble will understand me, and anyone who hasn’t will understand after watching “Steps towards Success” this Sunday, 3rd April, at 11:00 on Channel 5 (repeated on Monday evening at 00:00).
Galina Volchek is like an entire era that embraces the theatre, life and history of our country and relationships between such different and extraordinary people, and…there’s something else too, that’s hard to define. For almost forty years, Galina Borisovna has led the wonderful Sovremennik theatre. Her titles of “people’s artiste” and academician of the Russian Cinematographic Academy, as well as numerous arts awards, including the very prestigious US Drama Desk Award (never before given to a non-American theatre) – Galina gives all the credit to her own theatre, which long ago became her family: “The theatre is my home, and I treat the people in the theatre like my family. I take tender care of some of them and shout at others...” Even the pies in the Sovremennik’s buffets are delicious, so the spectators feel at home too. It’s this reverence, absolute devotion and love for her theatre that have made both the theatre itself and its leader such a big success.
The credo with which the Sovremennik was formed remains unchanged to this day: “To speak with contemporaries in today’s language”. There was a point at which Galina Volchek refused to leave the newly created theatre because she was true to the Sovremennik ideal. And she refused to leave, incidentally, to join her teacher Oleg Yefremov, whom she adored and who is still the highest authority for her.
The interview with Galina Borisovna turned out to be so profound and wide-ranging that we simply couldn’t squeeze it all into a single programme. So we decided to split the whole incredibly interesting recording into two parts. You can see Part 1 of “Steps towards Success” with Galina Volchek on 20th March, and Part 2 on 27th March, at 11:00 on Channel 5. What you will see is a totally amazing person who talks simply and clearly about the cause to which she has devoted her life.
As always, the programme will be repeated on Monday evening at 00:00.
This is the first time I’ve ever had an orchestra as the star of my show. And it’s not just any old orchestra, but a military band, and one of the very best, at that! There are only three such orchestras in Russia: the Central Military Orchestra of the Ministry of Defence, the Central Orchestra of the Navy and the Model Orchestra of the Guard of Honour, which takes part in all the reception ceremonies for heads of state and government.
It’s not at all easy being a musician in a military band: you not only have to be talented and creative and play your instrument very well, but you also have to be in good physical shape. During the Victory parades (since 1945 the band has always taken part in these parades), ceremonial events and state festivities the musicians sometimes have to spend up to 8 hours in a row on their feet! The stamina and fitness they need to do this come from daily rehearsals, training sessions and iron discipline, so in this respect military musicians have a lot in common with sportsmen )).
Perhaps this is why military music is so unlike anything else. Actually, military musicians have always been very highly valued in the armies of all countries. In Czarist Russia, for example, a regiment might be rewarded for its feats on the battlefield with a banner or a silver trumpet – the kind of trumpet that could only be handled in gloves. Incidentally, it was the Navy Orchestra that was given the honour last year of playing some old battlefield trumpets that had been restored by the M.I.Glinka Museum of Musical Culture.
The orchestra’s repertoire consists of a lot more than just military music. But you can find out about this and also about the orchestra’s wonderful conductor, Captain, I rank, Alexey Karabanov, in Steps towards Success, on Channel 5 at 11:00 on 20th February (repeated late on Monday evening).
P.S. I’m really pleased that the programme about the Central Navy Orchestra is being broadcast on the eve of the Defenders of the Fatherland holiday. It’s a present from me to congratulate our army and all those who defend us, who lift our fighting spirits and strengthen the Fatherland.
My interview with Vera Kuzminichna Vasileva - one of the most outstanding actresses of our time - was really something special. Quite often, after they’ve set everything up, the guys on our film crew go away and attend to their own business during the actual interviews... doing checks, tuning things up and so on. But literally from the first minute of my dialogue with Vera Kuzminichna they all gathered around the camera and started listening very attentively. And although interesting discussions are nothing unusual on our programme, on this occasion it was really exceptional.
Vera Kuzminichna is so full of charm, profundity and wisdom, together with a kind of very balanced and calm attitude towards herself and her fame, that...well, you just can’t get enough of her, you just want to keep listening to her and being with her. Maybe it’s because there’s an extraordinary kind of wisdom in Vera’s words, though she speaks in such very clear and simple language and uses very understandable images. I think this combination is one of the secrets of her charm and her rare talent of talking about difficult things in simple terms. And it really doesn’t matter whether she’s talking about her starring role in the film “The Legend of the Land of Siberia” or about her unusual role in “The Curious Savage” at the S.V.Obraztsov puppet theatre or about her own difficult love life, when real happiness comes as a reward for patience...
You can find out all about it in Steps towards Success on Channel 5 at 11:00 on 13th February (repeated on Monday evening at 00:15).
Famous children’s doctor, professor, director of the Moscow Research Institute for Emergency Child Surgery and Traumatology, World Health Organization expert, creator of mobile international first aid teams for children…it’s hard to remember all of Leonid Mikhaylovich Roshal’s numerous titles and achievements. Yet in real life there’s absolutely nothing showy about him, except perhaps his rather unusual medical talisman - the stethoscope that he always carries around his neck.
When Dr.Roshal is asked why he became a doctor he just shrugs his shoulders: “That’s how things worked out – I just always wanted to be a doctor”. And he’s convinced that in order to become a good doctor you don’t necessarily have to get top marks. But you do have to spend a few years working as a district pediatrician, because that seemingly routine work that can provide a young doctor with unique experience. In fact, he believes that children’s doctors all have a special qualification of their own.
In 1998, after the earthquake in Armenia, Dr.Roshal set up an international first aid team, which is ready to set off for the ends of the earth at a moment’s notice to help children in distress. The team has attended the scenes of many natural disaster and manmade catastrophe, and even combat action. Roshal has seen suffering and death so many times, yet he finds it hard to talk about them…
Asked about his success, Leonid Mikhaylovich calmly replies: “I’m simply doing my job, following my conscience rather than books”. Learn all about the wonderful doctor, his life, sorrows and joys in “Steps towards Success” on Channel 5 at 11:00 on Sunday 6 February (repeated on Monday evening at 00:15).
My interview with the well-known Russian singer Dmitriy Malikov was filmed in his studio – a large and very bright room with an enormous collection of busts of the great composers. Actually, I was quite struck by Dima’s devotion to classical music: he’s really serious about it and it’s kind of touching. Stage success came to him quite early on, but it didn’t turn his head or take over his life. Dmitriy not only continued his studies at the Moscow State Conservatoire, but graduated with distinction as a wonderful pianist.
His love for such apparently different genres as stage and classical music eventually resulted in the wonderful PIANOMANIA project, which combined the depth and beauty of classical music with the possibilities of contemporary arrangements and visual art. Incidentally, this love for classical music helped Dima to develop a habit of discipline: no matter how busy he might be, he has to spend at least two hours a day at his instrument. It’s almost like in sport.
Many people think it was easy for Malikov to find his place on the stage because he was helped so much by his father, a famous stage artist and leader of the Samotsvety group. Yes, I agree: it’s very important to get a good start in life. But your personal success depends on you alone, on your faith and your commitment to what you do, and ultimately, on your discipline…
I think this is what lies behind the success of the wonderful singer, pianist and musician Dmitriy Malikov.
You can find out all about it on Steps towards Success at 11.00 on Channel 5 on 19th December (repeated on Monday evening at 00.15).
Aleksandr Karelin and I used to be sporting colleagues and nowadays we’re colleagues in the State Duma. At one point we were also “colleagues in misfortune”, when we both lost at the Sydney Olympics. All the sports predictions were that he and I would be coming home with gold medals. Everyone was so convinced of it that no other outcome was even considered. But we lost… Few people know what it’s like to lose at the OIympics: it’s something that’s really hard to get over and can only be understood by someone who’s experienced it…
But life goes on. Even before the Olympics Aleksandr had began working in the State Duma to represent the interests of the voters – not just the people of his home town Novosibirsk, but also in Stavropol, because he looks after that region. Actually he represents voters all over the country. Lots and lots of people come to the sportsmen in the Duma for help, because their sporting achievements are so well known to the whole country. They are very familiar and much-loved personalities.
It’s often said that having devoted his life to sport, an athlete is of no use to anyone once his career is over. But that’s not quite true. Admittedly, sport takes a lot out of you, but it also gives a lot back, and you keep the discipline, the responsibility and the ability to cope with great pressure. All these qualities give former athletes the opportunity for self-fulfillment in other fields. That is, if they want it, of course.
I think the secret of Aleksandr Karelin’s success as the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of the 20th century and a wonderful man is that he was able to cope with defeat: he didn’t give up, but took the next step forward. And these days he’s doing an awful lot for our country - no longer as a professional sportsman, but as a successful politician and public figure.
You can find out all about it on Steps towards Success at 11:00 on Sunday 28th November on Channel 5 (repeated on Monday at 0015).
