Ivan Stupachenko:

Stereoleto — the greatest dancing of the summer

Stereoleto (Stereosummer in English) is a dancing which is as great as Primavera Sound, Sonar, Printemps de Bourge, Melt. At the last seven shows in St. Petersburg among the participants were Massive Attack, Air, Sebastian Tellier, Yonderboy, Gus Gus and many others. Every time the venue of the event is new, but it’s always very large — as the event itself. Content: different stlyes of music, rock-’n'-roll and lounge to eurodance, electro and so on. Just depends on a performer....

July 9th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Ballet, flamenco, tango, Spain, Mariinsky theater

National Ballet of Spain is visiting St. Petersburg next week with its two shows: Dualia. La Leyenda and Elegia. Homenaje. El Cafe de Chinitas. The dancers are playing at the stage of the Mariinsky theater. Specialists say that the main features of the National Ballet of Spain founded 30 years ago are love to national dances and at the same time an interest to modern styles. This combination creates an unique style of the troupe headed by world-known dancer and choreographer Jose Antonio who is...

July 7th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Visualisation: Immersion into un-reality

Visualisation is magic a bit. It’s a magical process when sound gets its shape. Reflection of the link between the reality and world of illusion, between the past and the present is the main task of visualisation, a combination of image and sound. No, I’m not going to teach you a lesson of philosophy, it’s a description of the exhibition that takes place July 3 -17 at the culture space called Loft Project ETAGI. The name of the exhibition is “Immersion”, it consists...

July 6th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

A village restaurant in the center

Just have a look at the photo gallery of the restaurant “Tri peskarya” (The three gudgeons) to make it sure that it’s the best place to eat if you want to feel as if you’re travelling in the countryside despite the fact that actually you are at the main street of the 4th largest city in Europe. The interior is made as a refer to a Russian peasant’s house. The room can host 200 persons, but owing to well-tasted design you do not feel you are in a food-court. The village...

July 3rd, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Blues in a gorgeous landscape

The windows of my office overlook a beautiful park, with a pool with ducks, nice paths, cut grass, and a palace, a reeal palace which used to be inhabited by a noble family, the Yusupovs, after whom the park was named. This place belongs to the St. Petersburg’s state unvercity of railways, and every day I walk across the park for a few times. Today I have seen even girls laying topless and having their sunbathings there. On July 4 the Yusupov’s park will be closed for such walkers as...

July 1st, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Board tall ships

In the middle of July, 11-14, St. Petersburg is home to a stage of the well-known sea adventure The Tall Ship Race. More than 100 ships are to be attending the city, and which is important for you it is the fact that everybody has an opportunity to visit any of them. The main places for moorimg are two embankments: the Angliskaya (English) embankment and the Lieutenant Schmidt’s embankment. You can board them on July 11,12 and 13 between 12 and 18 p. m. The event, of course, is to be overshadowed...

June 26th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Laser theatre: travel into Universe

Today I’ve heard of the laser theatre Lux Aeterna (Eternal Light) for the first time and discovered that it works in St. Petersburg. Moreover, it’s the only such a theatre in Russia that has its consistent stage, which is located at the St. Petersburg’ Planetaruim. How to describe a show? It’s a mixture of light, bright colourful light, and sound. There are no human beings on a stage, if this “stage” can be called so, of course. Imagination of artists whose...

June 19th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

A Night City-tour in St. Petersburg: new excursion

City-tour is an excursion operated by the city’s authorities, conducted on double-decked buses. Every day the buses at 09.00 (and then with intervals every 20-30 minutes thoughout May-October and 60 minutes between October-May) depart from the Ostrovsky square, the final depart is at 21.30. During a two-hour trip you can see almost all main local sightseeings, which is very convenient. A detailed map of the route you’ll find at the official site of the project. Price for adults,...

June 18th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Mass open-air on June 20

Every year graduates from secondary schools (a stage before university, colleges) of St. Petersburg celebrate an end of their education process by a great mass open-air festival that takes place at the Dvortsovaya square and around it. Given that St. Petersburg is a 4-million-inhabitants city (fourth-largest in Europe) and with many comers from nearby towns you can imagine how this festival looks like. The center is really heavily overcrowded, so it’s not the best time for walking. As well...

June 15th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Volvo Ocean Race finishes in St. Petersburg

This June in St. Petersburg is full of world-scale regattas. One of the largest and greatest event of this type is to take place on June 27-28. This is Volvo Ocean Race itself! In just a fortnight the strongest teams are running for victory in a race that has been lasting for almost two years. The place is the Neva river, just opposite the Peter and Paul Fortress. Yes, an intrigue has already died, since a Swedish team Ericsson has already secured a comfortable margin to win the whole competition....

June 13th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

A new *** hotel in St. Petersburg

Just ten minutes by a metro train from the city’s center, just half an hour from Pulkovo airport; being on one of the main thoroughfares in St. Petersburg. If we mean that location matters, than this hotel, just opened, is OK. It’s name is Holiday Inn Moskovskye Vorota, named after the nearest metro station. The facility has 557 guest rooms, including 36 suites, 416 single-bedded, 141 double-bedded, 362 non-smoking rooms and 6 for disabled people. The hotel is positioned as a “business-hotel”,...

June 10th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Beer festival in St. Petersburg

You must heard of Octoberfest, a beer feastival, which is held in Munich, Germany, every year. St. Petersburg also has its own beer festival, which is usually held in the summer, in late June or in early July. The city is home to many Russian big beer producers, which release not local brands, but international ones as well, among them Heineken, Kronenburg, Foster’s, Edelweiss, Tuborg, Carlsberg and more. I attended alomst all last festival and would like to say that it is worth your time if...

June 7th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Changes to trains St. Petersburg-Helsinki

This information is important for those who want to travel between St. Petersburg and Finland this summer. First of all, little shuttle buses have raised their prices to about 30 euros for one way ticket. The place of departure has not changed, you can take a bus at the Vosstanya Square, near the Oktyabrskaya hotel daily at about 21.00. The timetable of train connection has changed, be careful. As of June 2 till August 25 daily local trains (leaving from St. Petersburg) Repin and Sibelius are not...

June 3rd, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Carillon in Peterhof: free concerts every Sunday

I bet my bottom dollar (ruble) that you know what a carillon is or at least have heard of. And even if you say you don’t know what it is I tell you that you really do. Just press the hyperlink above to go to Wiki to read that a carillon is a set of bells thar are played by a thing that can resemble you a type of a piano. It has a keyboard and pedals that are connected with bells and by pushing keys and pedals a musician makes the bells ringing in harmony. Well, it was a short background,...

June 1st, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Sails of White Nights — a yacht race in St. Petersrburg

The Neva river, just opposite the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul fortress, between the Dvortsovy and Troitsky bridge fits rather well for a boat race. This year the Sails of White Nights is to take place June 4-14. The race is supported by the International Sailing Federation, which has given the reggatta the grade 1, which is the highest.The main competition is to start June 6. The yachtsmen come from Russia, France, Portugal, Spain, Denmark and New Zealand. A few more may be added. On the...

May 29th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Travelling paintings of Rubens, Gauguin, Monet and Co.

Celebrating the St. Petersburg’s 306th birthday, the Hermitage museum has launched a very interesting culture action. Enlarged copies of twenty world-famous paintings belonging to different epochs and masters will be travelling within the city till May 29. They are travelling right now, if you are here just look through the window. How come the paintings have got their own feet? It’s just simple, they have been put on cars. The idea behind this action is to bring in some culture to...

May 28th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

The city’s birthday: the festival’s program

On 27th of May, St. Petersburg is celebrating its birthday. Yes, our city exactly knows the day on which it was founded by Peter the Great, the first Russian Emperor. That happened in 1703, so this birthday is 306th. Unlike previous years, when the festival lasted only for a few hours, this year’s programm includes events to be held a few days before and a few more after the date with May 30, Saturday, as the most celebrating day. I wouldn’t like to burden you with a long list of events...

May 24th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Swine flu: first case in Russia

Yes, there had been no one swine flu-infected in Russia, but now there is. A young man who arrived from the USA at Moscow airport was sent to hospital, and the worst expectations came true. Now it’s first Russian case of H1N1 indicated. It happened in Moscow, and now the authorities are making efforts to prevent further possible spread of the infection within the country. About St. Petersburg I know that at the start of epidemic a few conferences were held to figure out what must be done...

May 23rd, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Gardens Festival

His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent Charitable Foundation supports “The Imperial Gardens of Russia” International Festival, organized by The Russian museum, and to be held in the Mikhailovsky Garden May 27 — June 3. This is the second venue of this type, so the photos from the previous one you can see with the help of the official site of the festival. This year 20 spots in the park are ready for the best pieces of the garden architecture. The theme threading through...

May 19th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More

Warning: bad weather!

The second part of this week is going to be overshadowed by strong wind and heavy rains. Such a weather forecast is spreaded in the press here. Already tomorrow there reportedly will be cold winds (15-20 m/s) to lower the day temperature till 5-10 Celcium (it’s about 20 now, which is rather comfortable). All this will last till Sunday, experts say, and as I wrote earlier, St. Petersburg is not a city suited to walk comfortably in the cold weather. It’s nearness to extent water surface...

May 13th, 2009 | St Petersburg | Read More