March 29

Last night I helped chaperone the 6th grade as they performed at Southern Methodist U in the Russian Festival. We left the school at 2:45 to take them to eat at Cici's "Pizza" and then on to the rehearsal before the performance at night. The show started at 6:30 with the usual "thanks to...everyone for making this night so wonderful....let's give a hand to...." then a long thanks to the sister city in Russia. All this took about 1/2 hour. Then a trio of SMU grad students played some Russian classical music. I suppose they were good, but the piano was so loud, it drowned out the cello and violin, so all you could hear was the piano. I didn't think it had been that long since I had attended a cultural event, but apparently in my absence the piano has been replaced by a keyboard. Sounds the same, but weird to see steel instead of a baby grand. Then a man from the Ft. Worth Guitar Society played a couple of songs, Gypsy in nature. It was wonderful...I am always amazed at the finger technique of a classical guitar player. On to the Russian singers who sang, danced, and played traditional Russian folk music from the various areas of Russia. Then it was our turn to put our bedecked students on stage where they sang a couple of Russian songs. The audience was lovely and gave them heartfelt applause. Nice evening, but hardly the kind of festival I have ever attended. There is a small, and apparently growing, Russian community in the Dallas area but not enough to have a huge festival. We left with a wish for more of the culture and less patting on the back of the organizers.