Maslenitsa Celebration

 
 
 

Vocabulary

prize	ancient	celebration
grand	custom	come back
kettle	mark (2)	traditional
rather	festivity	win/won/won
bustle	feature	celebrate
giant	wooden	drive/drove/driven
birch	get away	take place
allure	take in	monumental
create	setting	space (2)
rare	feature	drive out
crepe	inspire	samovar
boil	dish (2)	pancake
coal	scale (3)	inspiration
origin	strange	supposed to
bribe	mischief	cottage cheese
filling	warmth	departed (2)
cream	ancestor	mushroom
climax	fast (2)	high-point
setting	bonfire	enormous
climb	cottage	Bastille
pallet	curious	build/built/built
tower	wind (2)	mean/meant/meant
usual	turn out	bring/brought/brought
blin	cool (2)	underway

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Maslenitsa is all about sun, fun and games. It’s the Russian celebration to drive out the long, cold winter and welcome the warmth of spring.

Traditional . . . sporty . . . and strange. The customs are ancient; the prizes, modern, like an electric kettle.

Participant, Male, One: “Tree climbing is traditional. This is my tenth time. Even if I’d much rather win a television or a microwave instead of a kettle.”

Game Host: “One, two, three, GO!”

Spectator: “This is a real cock fight. It’s about life and death.”

Participant Female, two: “Let’s see which one of us girls is the coolest.”

Maslenitsa is celebrated all over Russia.

The festivities are particularly beautiful in Nikola-Lenivets, a three-and-a-half hour drive from Moscow. Nikola-Lenivets is a nature park featuring giant wooden sculptures in the middle of a Russian birch forest.

It’s a magical place for anyone who wants to get away from the bustle of the Russian capital, and take in the allure of this monumental setting featuring art outside the gallery. That’s rare in Russia, even though there’s plenty of space for it.

Nikolay Polissky, Artist: “We live in a very big country, with so much space that everyone could create art on a grand scale. I want to inspire other artists with my work.”

While we’re looking at a samovar, we’ll return to Maslenitsa. An electric kettle has no place here. The water is boiled over hot coals to serve tea with blinis, the main Maslenitsa dish.

Also known as blintses, pancakes or crepes, good blinis need butter — or maslo in Russian. That’s the origin of the word Maslenitsa: the Butter Celebration.

Female Participant, three: “Everyone needs to eat the blinis with butter. You’re supposed to bribe your departed ancestors so they don’t come back and cause mischief!”

Female Participant, four: “We only want good things to happen, so we eat lots of blinis and butter.”

Blini Cook: “I make up to six hundred blinis a day. It’s no problem. The fillings are different: cream cheese, meat, chicken or mushrooms. I like them best with cottage cheese.”
The celebrations are well underway. We’re moving towards the high-point of the week, after which Russian Orthodox Christians fast until Easter.

An enormous bonfire marks the climax of the event. Wooden pallets have been used to build what’s called the “Bastille”.

Like all the other sculptures here, it’s a work of Nikolay Polissky. Burning the tower is meant to bring freedom and happiness.

Nikolay Polissky, Artist: “I’m curious about how it’s going to burn! Nobody knows what’s going to happen to my Bastille today, because the wind is stronger than usual. No one knows how it will turn out.”

The burning Bastille tower is a great picture for some; for others, it’s a moment of inspiration or reflection.

The event closes with a surprise that tops everything that’s gone before it: Russia’s mighty winter is now over, and spring can come.

Soon, other celebrations will take place in Nikola-Lenivets, in a greener setting.

 

 

Questions

1. Maslenitsa celebrates snowfall and snow. True or false?

2. Are there many games and sporting events?

3. Masletnitsa is only celebrated in Nikola-Lenivets. Is this right or wrong? Is Nikola-Lenivets a big city?

4. Are there lots of artwork and decorations? Give examples.

5. “An electric kettle has no place here.” What does this mean?

6. The the main foods are fish, crab, shrimp, squid and octopus. Is correct or incorrect? Are the pancakes cooked, served and eaten plain?

7. What is the highlight of the Maslenitsa festival? What does the bonfire signify?

 

A. In my country we celebrate the end of winter and the coming of spring. Yes or no? How is it celebrated?

B. Are pancakes or crepes popular? How are they eaten?

C. Is tea a popular drink?

D. Do people like campfires or fires in fireplaces?

E. How do people increase good luck, success and prosperity?