Dancing with Eagles

If you ask any of the Russians what they know about Orel, they will probably remember that the Battle of Kursk was fought in these places in 1943 - the largest and most devastating tank battle in world history. It determined the outcome of World War II.

Some people know that the current head of the Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov was born in the Oryol region. Well-read citizens know that the Oryol region is the birthplace of Nikolai Leskov, Afanasy Fet and Leonid Andreev.

But the Eagle is not associated with anyone and with anything of the above for us personally. For us, it will forever remain a dancing city.

Text: Paul Richardson, Nadezhda Grebennikova Photo: Mikhail Mordasov, Nikon D810, 35/1.4

(Total 22 photos)

We decided that we needed to look for a ballet school somewhere in the provinces - so why not in Orel? Could we know that in this city there is an amazing Oryol children's choreographic school, which is run by 61-year-old Raisa Rychkova.

The school is a luxurious, superbly equipped building with an area of 5000 square meters. The school moved here only a year ago, and before that, for 33 years - from the day it opened - it huddled in gloomy, poorly adapted rooms for dancing near the city center. The new building (the entrance to it, at the insistence of Rychkova, is crowned with a tiara) largely determined the success of the school in preparing students for leading ballet academies and theaters. There were eight such graduates last year.

About six hundred students aged 4 to 18 are engaged in classical choreography here for 2-4 hours three times a week. About modern dance, the director says: "This is not our style."

Today is Wednesday. And this means that in the evening 80 of the best students are rehearsing a choreographic concert in honor of the 35th anniversary of the founding of the school. In addition, the director prepares several different numbers with them - they danced one of them at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Victory.

Some special strength and inspiration emanates from young ballerinas and dancers who are not dominated by complexes, although their technique is still imperfect. It is a natural, charming beauty. An hour and a half of rehearsals fly by.

Shortly before the end of classes, Rychkova calls the 11-year-old fairy Ira to discuss some issues with the schedule. After the ballerina leaves us, the director says that Irochka will enter the ballet academy in five or six years. Even in such a young being, says Rychkova, one can see true talent and signs that she has a future in ballet.

The next evening, driven by the invigorating frost, we walked about three kilometers to the recreation center of the railway workers. A massive building with columns, built by captured German soldiers, is located directly opposite the railway station. In the main hall of the Palace of Culture, a trade in hats and coats, looking like a flea market, has unfolded. We climbed the side stairs to the second floor, where there are offices and dance halls. It is the evening retreat of the Oryol Dance and Sports Club, run by Marina Gorbacheva, a slender, red-haired 49-year-old woman.

Gorbacheva conducts classes in a group - the most charming of all existing ones. It probably sounds like an exaggeration, but there is nothing more touching than seven-year-olds diligently circling in a waltz or mazurka.

The main dance hall is decorated with a patterned blue carpet, and colored paper decorations hang on sky blue walls. They divert attention from the bulging sickles and hammers, the wide stucco molding framing the ceiling with caked layers of dust.

At some point, Gorbachev arranges a dozen children in four rows. They stand for a long time, straightening their backs, proudly raising their heads and stretching their arms up in the form of a horseshoe. She then walks down the aisles and places a paper slip on the top of each student's head, whose posture is impeccable. Vouchers are a kind of reward during classes or a prize for the winner in games.

Classes with adults begin at 7 pm. Five couples, men and women, most of whom are in their forties, begin to warm up. They move like graceful birds to the music of the 1980s. It is very interesting to watch the Russians, who usually behave sedately and look stiff, and now they are headlong into this passionate, exciting activity.

One couple, 52-year-old Larisa Ilyinykh and 58-year-old Valery Nikolaev, are incredibly agile and uninhibited. They dance with a agility that does not match their age. Larisa said that she has been dancing for nine years and they make her more self-confident, increase self-esteem. Valery is a college teacher and psychologist who has been dancing all his life and has been doing karate for another 30 years. He says he has written 50 books, but he gets more satisfaction when he spends a month learning a new dance.

Valery and Larisa are married, but not with each other, but have been dancing together for three years. They come to class twice a week, and sometimes every day - if they are preparing for competitions, which, according to the smiling Nikolaev, "usually win."

Spine of Russia is an independent author's project of two journalists. More information about Paul Richardson and Mikhail Mordasov's journey through Russia can be found here: http://spineofrussia.org/. The book Spine of Russia will be released in the spring of 2016, you can pre-order it here.