The Russian Festival in Kalamazoo

This past weekend, my mother and I traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan for the annual Russian Festival held at the university there. My grandma is the director of the festival so we have been to the festival many times before. I am very lucky to have such a grandma who still has so much energy at an older age and who is willing to give me so many opportunities to experience other cultures. At this festival, the theme was Russia looking towards the east and to the west, demoted by the double-headed eagle. The double-headed eagle was first used during the imperial times of Russia and then used once again after the fall of the Soviet Union.

To acknowledge the double-headed eagle, my grandma invited groups from other cultures to perform at the Russian festival. Thus, during the Friday night gala, a Chinese girls' dance group performed various ethnic dances and during the Saturday portion of the festival two Chinese men played ethnic instruments in a duet. Out of these I enjoyed most the musicians. One man played a flute-like instrument and the other man played a stringed instrument, perhaps it was a mandolin. Nonetheless, they made beautiful music and it was very different from the other types that were heard during the festival.

The most entertaining group that performed, however, was a Russian balalaika group from Komi Russia. There were three musicians in the group, two whom played a smaller balalaika and one who played a larger balalaika. A fourth had plans to come and play the bass balalaika, but he had trouble getting a visa to come to America. The group played all types of music, Rock n' Roll to classical Russian. They were very into their music and it seemed that they were enjoying themselves very much as they played. One of my favorites was their piece called, "Cuban Dance." Their playing was stylistically Cuban and during the song one man stopped for a bit to play the maracas and the claves.

I also enjoyed a Russian classical song in which one man stopped to play the saw and bow. Although it may sound quite ugly in words, the actual event was ambrosia to the ears. The sound was like a woman "ooing" and it was very smooth. I didn't even know that it was possible to play the saw, but after hearing it, it was something that I was yearning to hear more of.

Overall, the festival was very good. Each moment was entertaining and there were lots of people there to talk to. Also, the Russian lunch was quite tasty, and I had been waiting for such a meal since my trip to Russia this summer. I am always pleased to go to the Russian festival every year, and this year I did some volunteer work there. I hope that the festival will go on for long years to come.

The festival's website is http://russianfestival.org/