🎶 Symphonic concerts in the Crimean cave

🎵 The Marble Cave is located on the Chatyr-Dag mountain massif (Crimea, Russia). It was discovered in 1987. Its total length is over 2 kilometers, and its depth exceeds 60 meters. The cave consists of several halls, and since 2017, chamber music concerts by the Crimean Symphony Orchestra are regularly held in one of them.
The acoustics in the cave are special: due to the absence of right angles, sound propagates naturally. Therefore, musicians perform without amplification equipment, and the sound quality rivals that of the best concert halls.

🎵 However, conditions inside the cave are challenging. The temperature does not rise above +9°C, and humidity approaches 100%, which is dangerous for wooden instruments—they can be damaged. That’s why performers often use special moisture-resistant instruments made of composite materials for concerts in the cave. Musicians play in warm clothing, but their fingers freeze quickly, so the duration of the concert does not exceed one hour.

🎶 Before the concert, visitors are led into the cave in groups, and warm clothing is provided. An amphitheater has been set up inside, and there is lighting. Mobile communication does not work inside the cave.
The orchestra's program includes classical, neoclassical music, film soundtracks, and arrangements of rock hits.

🎵 During the Soviet era, concerts were already held in the cave, but the tradition was interrupted. The modern project started in 2017. Concerts are only held in warm weather, as ascent to the Chatyr-Dag plateau becomes impossible in winter. The hall’s capacity is about 100 spectators.

🎶 Concerts in the Marble Cave are unique: here, incredible acoustics, a fantastic landscape, and music that sounds truly special.

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3️⃣5️⃣ If a 20-year-old guy can pick 5 kg of blueberries a day and an 18-year-old girl can pick 3 kg, don't expect them to bring home 8 kg if you send them to the forest together.

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🔤ood morning!

🎎 Alexander Shiryaev: Puppet Animation at the Turn of the Century

👫 Puppet animation in Russia emerged thanks to… ballet. The choreographer of the Mariinsky Theatre (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Alexander Shiryaev, used puppets as an auxiliary tool in his work on productions. He arranged them in stage poses and sketched the resulting compositions, then combined the drawings into multi-meter strips — thus creating a visual representation of the ballet performance on paper.

💀 Shiryaev was not only a choreographer but also a teacher. To explain the mechanics of complex dance steps to students, he wanted to record the movements of live dancers on film — this allowed him to break down the dance into elements and demonstrate a reference performance. However, the Directorate of the Imperial Theatres prohibited filming the artists.

🧸 Then Shiryaev found another way to preserve choreography. Having purchased a manual "Bio-Kam" camera in Europe (using 17.5mm and 35mm film), the choreographer built a miniature theater stage at home. It was forbidden to film people — so he transferred his previous method to this new technology. Instead of sketching puppets, he shot their movements frame by frame: on film, stationary figures came to life and performed graceful ballet steps. Unlike living performers, puppets were obedient, did not tire, and could freeze at any point in their movement — making them an ideal tool for creating educational materials.
Between 1906 and 1909, in his apartment, Shiryaev created a whole series of animated films using mixed techniques. He handcrafted anatomically accurate puppets, sewed costumes for them, and built sets — both drawn and three-dimensional. To precisely plan the characters' movements, the choreographer made preparatory storyboards. He used his animation in training: showing student dancers what ideal dance steps should look like.

📍 However, for nearly a hundred years, his work remained unknown to the public. Only in 1995 did ballet historian Viktor Bocharov discover the films in archives. It turned out that the choreographer was not only the creator of Russia's first puppet cartoons but also preserved for history the lost ballet productions of the Mariinsky Theatre — today, they are being restored from Shiryaev’s animation frames.

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🛤️British ex-police officer reacts to revocation of citizenship due to ties with Russia
Mark Bullen admitted that he has no idea about the reasons behind what happened. The man expressed confusion, questioning whether this is a "signal" for other Britons living in Russia.

✈️ "I don't understand how my admiration for Russia means I pose some kind of harm (editor's note — to the UK). If I am guilty of a crime, then charge me. If I have done something, tell me what I did. Tell me which law I violated, and take me to court. But I haven't done anything," the man said in an interview with Sky News.

🚂 Mark moved to Russia back in 2014 — at that time, he immediately got a job in the PR team of FC Zenit. Subsequently, he became the first Briton to be deprived of his native passport allegedly due to ties with Russia.

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3️⃣6️⃣ If a dog starts talking, a man will lose his last friend.

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