(ATR) The Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad will have a distinctly Russian flavor with some international performers sprinkled throughout the festivities.
Russian music and dance groups include Chukchi throat singing, fiery Dagestan lezginka, melodic Kuban Cossack tunes, and the virtuoso alto improvisations of maestro Yuri Bashmet.
More than 5,000 artists from the length and breadth of Russia will perform in theaters and other venues and at 12 free "live sites" around Sochi.
"I think we managed to reach out to quite a variety of different artists and performers and to showcase all of Russia’s culture," said Anna Pisarskaya, the Sochi 2014 head of culture. "Come and visit us at nighttime at our live sites. You won’t be bored, I promise."
The Grand Finale of the Cultural Olympiad culminates four years of programs reaching 3 million people. It will include the best numbers from those years, as well as performances by the finalists and winners of the all-Russian creative competitions.
Bashmet is also artistic director of the Winter International Arts Festival, which coincides with the Cultural Olympiad. The festival is in its seventh year.
International representatives include a "Viva Italia" program, the Munich State Opera, the National Ballet of Norway, jazz trumpeter Brian Lynch of the United States, and the Swingle Sisters, a British band.
More than 800,000 spectators are expected at the live sites. There will be five throughout greater Sochi – in the villages of Lazarevskoye and Dagomis, in Adler Park, in Rosa Khutor, and at the Southern Pier of the commercial seaport in the Central District of Sochi.
"I think everyone will find something for himself or herself," Pisarskaya said. "The range of performances that we’re offering is so diverse, so big, so interesting.
"In Russia, we have a saying: ‘Your spirits are taken away when you look at it.’"
Written byKaren Rosen in Sochi
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