Capturing Russia from white to black, north to south, east to west

Posts Tagged "Gorky Park"

Varya & Luba: Moscow Tap Dancers

MOSCOW: Varya and Luba, both 22, were tap dancing along the Moscow River on a weekday as the sun set over Gorky Park. I don’t recall meeting anyone in Russia that tapped dance and was curious how they got into it. Varya said she wanted to tap dance from childhood after seeing films with Fred Astair. Luba said she practiced Irish dancing for many years and wanted to try something new. They met each other at tap dance class. Tap, though, is just their hobby…Varya wants to be a geologist, Luba a computational linguistic. Luba is now studying Adygeh language, one of the world’s most difficult.

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Dmitry: Top Russian Rubik’s Cube Player

MOSCOW:  Last year, I noticed the kiosk near Moscow State University sells Rubik’s Cubes…about 5 different varieties. The kiosk worker said he sells about two a week. I have wanted to photograph a Russian Rubik’s Cube player since seeing the items at the kiosk and randomly found people in Gorky Park playing it. Dmitry, 18 years old and a mechanical mathematics student, said he solves the cube in 9 seconds and is one of the top 5 in Russia according to WCA. He started playing the cube 3.5 years ago after coming across a video on the Internet. He used to play 2 hours a day. Now he practices a half-hour a day to keep in form.

Valery & Daughter Polina: Off to US

MOSCOW: On sunny days, it feels like half the city is either on a bike, skateboard of foot scooter. Valery, 51, was riding a scooter, as his daugther Polina walked alongside him. From the town of Kazan on the Volga, they were spending a few days in Moscow before Polina's flight to the US. She landed a summer job at the Hard Rock Cafe in D.C. through 'Work & Travel.' Valery said he has been using the scooter for some time for health reasons. Considering the foot scooter has only recently become so popular, I asked how people react to him riding one. He said it's accepted in Moscow, but in Kazan, people sometimes think he is trying to relive his childhood.

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