Announcing the First in a New Series of “Sprints” Through History
A Sprint Through Russian History
August 18, 8:00 p.m. EDT
A sprint through Russian history? Isn’t Russian history hard?
Not actually. Across more than a thousand years, just two dynasties ruled the vast Slavic kingdom: the Riuriks (think “Ivan the Terrible”) and the Romanovs (including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and a succession of Alexander’s and Nicholas’s leading to the tsars’ bloody end after the revolutions of 1917). During that same 1000 years, Eastern Christianity (Orthodoxy) was adopted as the official religion by tenth-century Kievan princes and served to shape every aspect of culture. It even exerted influence in absentia during the seventy years when Soviet Communism set about crushing Russia’s traditional values.
Throughout the entire period, magnificent artists told the story using music, poetry, art, drama, and dance, portraying both the light and dark aspects of Russia’s cultural history! Their works, stunning in and of themselves, speak more vividly when placed within their historical context.
Join me for this tour of historical color and sound. At the end of the session, you’ll have a good overview that just might lead you to want more!
