It is very easy to write about a music band when a singer sings Russian songs. Everything is differently when a band performing in English is being reviewed. But I am going to try doing it, because this group is amazing.
It is this kind of group when the birth could be only possible by chance. For instance, there was a very funny story of joining the band by Kseniya (vocal). She just came to a rehearsal with her boyfriend who had to get an audition. The man wasn’t the best, however Kseniya has decided to try singing as well… other group members have absolutely fallen in love with her singing. It is how Kseniya was the band member.
Emil is a founder of Dancing Shoes. And now five creative musicians make positive songs. Let’s look in detail!
We are in front of the building known for most of Yaroslavl citizens as Ars-Cinema. The cinema rested in peace in 1994 and now there are “Ars-Forum” and Yaroslavl Chamber Theatre there. However, the original mission of the building was far from arts.
It was built in 1913 as House Of Mutual Help For Private Official Labour. The meaning of the title is rather simple. It was a combination of special interests club and special helpdesk for so-called “small business”. It is said the building has never played such role. Because during The World War I there was a hospital there. And the Ars-Cinema was arranged there almost immediately after the Revolution.
This is a new post in our new sub-category of the category News (like Details or Front Doors in Stories). Now we are going to post interesting trends of our city Yaroslavl. Today we want to write about Internet access.
We know that in most European countries there are lots of cafes and restaurants with free Wi-Fi access. In the same time our catering just begins to provide it. Yes, there were some access in the past but it was paid or with some restrictions (speed and so on).
Today we can see sings which say us about good and absolutely free Wi-Fi access.
Another cafe provides not only wireless internet but also netbooks (it costs about $3/hour):
We suppose it’s a good practice for our cafes and exactly an excellent trend!
Two month ago, 27th March, we opened this website for testing and writing first posts. Yes, it is necessary, because nobody wants to see an empty website.
Initially, Elina and I have thought up several sections of the blog: photos, stories, history, music, news and podcasts. Today some of posts can simultaneously belong to two or even three sections. Sometimes I can’t decide which part of the website is more suitable. I wanted to expand our blog with new section, but we decided to remain the structure intact. Nevertheless, there are lots of project within the blog. For example, there are Yaroslavl details and Yaroslavl Front door. During two month we wrote more than 45 post and sent lots of postcards with the view of Yaroslavl. By the way, if you want to receive a postcard then contact us.
Within a short time there will be some new projects. I think that you will be interested in these posts.
So, I want to make a short summary of some our interesting existed posts (three for each section).
The address: Stantsiya Uroch street (ул. Станция Урочь), 10
What: The sign “SCHOOL” (in Russian: школа, transliteration: shkola) made of wooden lathes.
The comment: Common and simple inscription “SCHOOL” clearly shows that a building is a school. It’s the school #97 and it’s 109 years old! In the past it was the school for railwayman children.
Not only the sign remains intact but the building is in a good condition. It was built in 1900 year!
We are continuing our “project”: finding interesting details in Yaroslavl (signs, decorative elements, buildings, even some bricks and other). In this post we are going to say about interesting tile on a building.
What: The ceramics tile-as-business-card with the inscription “Decorative building company. ARTUR PERKS. Moscow. Telephone # 2589” (“Декоративно-строительная контора. АРТУРЪ ПЕРКСЪ. г. Москва. Телефонъ № 2589”).
The comment: It was very modish to decorate buildings with ceramics tiles. Especially in capitals, but Yaroslavl wasn’t exception. The company of Artur Perks was one of the biggest companies which could tile.
Most of tiles were lost but Yaroslavl tile is one of few survivors. Because of this tile, the building is known as “Bricks” (“Kirpichi”).
It is the second post of Yaroslavl Front Doors. In the previous time I told you about the front door on Kalmykovykh street, 5. Today the narration will about a front door on the same street.
So, object #2, address Kalmykovykh street, (ул. Калмыковых), 3.
The third building is the first of the set of working barracks. Initially, there were three-storey buildings but after there were four-storey. In spite of the front doors of different buildings are similar (they were made by the one author), the third building is different from fifth. It is tidier and even there is intact windows!
Probably it can be defined by the following fact. A women who lives in that building said some quite interesting information:
— Our home is three hundreds years old, %#!
— The fifth is being totally resettled, there are 40 new flats, %$$#
— But there is no resettlement in that house across the street.
Probably, the residents of the fifth building are living “as at the last time” before the final resettlement and the residents of the third house are more careful with their own flats.
The door.
The door is unaltered for all buildings. There are no a combination lock and intercom: it is clear.
The staircase.
There is a similar version (like in fifth building). It is a beautiful hammering of the late of XIX century. There is a permanent and elegant handrail. We can see a load-bearing structure of the staircase which implements a decorative function.
Such hammering staircase is also sexual! If you are standing in the very bottom near the entrance door and a girl with spike heels are walking down the stairs, the whole front door is filled with a sexual clatter for three minutes.
Who will be now from the top? WHO? The whole staircase is sexual vibrating. And no matter that your hopes and aspirations will be completely crushed… Main thing is anticipation.
Summary: the staircase is very loud and noisy, but it’s not always harmful (for example, you live on the third floor than you can know about your visitors three minutes before).
The landing.
It is more quality than the landing of fifth building. Most of the window are untouched and we can imagine the author’s concept — good illuminated front door. The floors are not so dirty that we can explore an embossing of tiles.
Moreover, even the glazing of corridor doors remains intact. The fact that the door wasn’t burnt and the windows remain intact, tell us about the high resilience of spirit and purity of thoughts of the inhabitants of this front door.
This belief, however, has been broken when several empty bottles of vodka was seen on windowsill. But it is a nuance.
The trick.
At last, the third floor, attic hatch is not locked. According to all, the inhabitants of the building are not very fond of door locks and in general all things affecting the breadth of the spirit.
Climb to the attic, and, indeed, there is that which is difficult to get in other similar buildings of Yaroslavl. There is a huge rafter which holds the roof of the working barracks. It is more than 120 years old.
Almost in each post I introduce a new section of our website. The same in this post. It’s so because we’re just opening our project and now we are filling it with interesting materials. Today I write about Yaroslavl details which can be seen on Yaroslavl buildings, streets, parks and so on.
The address: Maksimova street, 6 (ул. Максимова, д. 6)
What: the tin sign with the inscription “Russian Insurance Company 1827 year” (“Российское Страховое Общество 1827 года”) and plate with the address of building — 2.
The comment: In the second half of 19 century there was a real boom of insurance in Russia. Mainly real estate was insured. On each insured building there was some sign which was like an advertisement as well. 1827 year is year of the foundation of the first Russian Insurance Company. Exactly this Company ensured this house on Vsekhsvyatskaya street, 2 (улица Всехсвятская), in present Maksimova street, 6.
The object #2 on Sobinova street
The address: Sobinova street, 25 (ул. Собинова)
What: The tin sign with inscription “Insured in the North Society” (“Застраховано в Северном Обществе”)
The comment: the same sign which indicated that this house was insured by the North Society. The sign could remain because there is the museum of Leonid Sobinov in this building.
The Object #3 on Smolyakova street
The address: Smolyakova street, 9 (ул. Смолякова)
What: The tin sign with inscription “Insured in Yaroslavl’s Provincial Zemstvo” (“Застраховано в Ярославском Губернском Земстве”)
The comments: Such signs could remain in good peasant houses.
I am glad to open our new set of stories of our website. Recently I found out about quite interesting Russian LiveJournal in which a author writes about front doors (street door, or in Russian парадная, paradnaya, or in contemporary Russian подъезд, pod’ezd). The author pays attention to details. He walks in different places of Yaroslavl and takes photographs inside old houses and buildings. Let’s start with the first Yaroslavl’s front door.
The object #1, address: Kalmykovykh street (ул. Калмыковых), 5.
Working barracks, well-known by residents as “korpusa”, were built in 1880-1890 years as dwellings for employees of Yaroslavl’s Big Manufacture. There are eight red-brick buildings (three-storey and four-storey) and one white building. In present only four red and white are inhabited.
Buildings in Perekop are whole stratum of Yaroslavl’s history. Starting as working barracks, then they have evolved into the most known communal flats, source of crime and permanent headache for government and residents. They are a cause of Perekop’s bad reputation. This is understandable.
Approximately 4000 people have lived in these nine buildings before the revolution. Three-storey building could accommodate three hundreds and four-storey — four hundreds. The number of inhabitants have been increased in 3-4 times after “compression” of Soviet Government. Thus there were at least twenty thousands people on such small territory. No professors, no chief engineers, no academician.
There was a reconstruction and resettlement in 1960th. The main part of inhabitants have departed for Bragino, but remaining people dished it out to whole Yaroslavl. Today the resettlement is practically over. There is no bygone atmosphere, but there is rests of the material culture.
Well, go to the front door of building number 5 on Kalmykovykh street.
The door.
The staircase.
Staircase is the main decoration of a front door, and it is difficult to find such staircase in our city. It was made of cast iron!
It is the eternal material, so stairs are not destroyed and they kept the original image in spite of dreadful quarrels (there were lots of dead persons in Soviet period).
Pay attention to the legs of the handrails! But initially they were made for houses of unskilled workers!
The landing.
Apertures between stages are really great. The height is around six meters!
There are famous passages on both sides of the staircase. The passage divides all buildings: sixteen rooms on one sides and sixteens on another. Such room was called kamora (the chamber) and it was a space 4m×8m (32m). One room was for one family of a worker.
In Soviet era each kamora was separated on three parts and now it was for three families. The photo of separated kamora:
One family is on the average 3-4 persons, thus 9-12 per room, 32 rooms per floor, so 280-380 people per one floor. At the end of passage there were kitchens and lavatories. The photograph of 1950th:
In 1960th after reconstruction the rooms have been turned into an individual apartment with all conveniences inside rather than outside.
In post cases these apertures was closed with bricks and fastened with nails.
The common door:
The prank.
The internal strainer armature as a helm:
The buildings were built with the latest technologies of the time — using the fixture (the armature).
The rock paintings.
Yes, it’s a very funny verse… with informal words.
