just that's affected getting lots of likes doesn't mean you are actually reaching people instead of paying for them why not you know get the next bar by providing interesting honest content on a regular basis oh wait that takes effort and honesty yeah you know what just keep wasting our tax dollars but that's just what happened. is our job the army our destiny. yes of the good i always say that we are on the front line. our weapons are our instruments our voices our choreography.

and he and jen. said. this and sound. nice that if and when we've come to realize that the performances which fascinate big audiences in some petersburg moscow and. cities somehow don't strike as much of

a chord with our own soldiers. are just sitting on stage soldiers sleep in the audience this is how military units have always responded to the musical concerts time and time again would be able to win over the younger audience of today or have these weapons lost their power has the time for the soldiers to admit defeat but we play material most of them but songs about love for the motherland don't sacrifice though they don't seem to appeal to the modern audience . young people especially soldiers. they seem to need a different rhythm now. singer alexander will soon turn eighty he has served in the musical army for most of his life he's convinced that because fashion changes all the time you can never keep up with it but he sure that the old

tunes will still stay young hearts. present i don't think that any of these modern knights can compare to songs like the farewell of slave younger siblings. to go when the trumpet sounds don't work as though you're at a funeral thirty six year old conductor. appreciates and respects the musical army's past achievements but he believes that it now needs to tune in with the times because if you see ethically implementing reforms that were introduced several years ago. let's talk english of course that's a very short time for a unit like us. thank you. but still we have managed to make some changes need to know what are. the attorneys stablished nurturing a song and dance ensembles in the late one nine hundred twenty s. they were originally intended to boost military morale and promote patriotism. over

time the ensembles became powerful soviet propaganda weapons by the time the u.s.s.r. collapsed there were thirty for our military our solders touring throughout the biggest country in the world today only five star operated russia the famous st petersburg song and dance and song is one of them this is we don't mean squat musical unit has managed to preserve many of its glorious traditions and is now desperately fighting to win back and modern and to match the guardians. it's not an easy mission but the commanders are confident and ready for the next offensive they call on the young warriors to join the fight. the enemy it's a two and a half kilometers walk from all quarters the on song book by first every morning then return for lunch and back again for a house after that we return to quarters for dinner so that's about ten kilometers a table together.

just like a given line. to get where you can look at your foot. to anybody off. constantine bilabial a choreography student didn't join the army voluntarily six months ago he received two letters one was an invitation to join the traditional russian downtown sambal in new york the other contained his call up papers for military service in in russia. it's compulsory for men to serve a fading military conscription is a criminal offense carrying a two years' jail sentence and so constantine had no choice it was going his trip to america because he had to serve his country i was lucky to get into this ensemble because in the real army there's a bright different atmosphere just everybody shouts you hardly ever hear anyone speaking calmly people are very polite it's a cultural thing. one of those that put away those jackets when you hide them

somewhere. and the caps to that that shows and. if you do that will close the door i said. everybody is a score that this must be the front of here but for a little. there has so. composer looks on their faults and we call golf national anthem of the russian federation. of. oh oh oh no gentleman don't sing so high they smiled and as they're very beginning all the guys no group had to memorize piles of boston songs some just couldn't do it i was one of them had been told that before so they looked us all in one room until we learned it all by heart it wasn't funny but it was fair.

that singing is really hard work it's not just sitting. and yelling. all over i'm going to snip it take europe or america we'll find nothing like it by huge there are no other military ensembles like this. weekend missing an oratorical a classical ballet anything what it will cost you can't even get all her stool and everything you didn't before the song and dance ensemble it was good but sheer will work no professionally you know nor perhaps nobody else has told you before but she has a lover really is much higher with one with the wing and you need to understand that the was always going to hold and now there are song.

this song and dance ensemble is the only military units where soldiers actually have to smile the only good where the soldiers voices are louder than their command is it's also the only unit where the servicemen make use of their very own personal weapons thank you for this is a great violin meister a french must a craftsman made it around one hundred fifty years ago at the end of the nineteenth century because it cost us twelve thousand dollars my father managed to borrow the money from work so the full amount straight away before. dimitri combine it one of the best students at st petersburg state conservatory had gone to serve in a regular military unit he would have had to swap his file and food why full these

days would have been spent on true combat and physical training which may not be so bad. some might even say it's good for. a musician to go for even a year without the cursing is a nightmare. to the people that these young men have been in music for about ten to twelve years before coming here music is by and large their profession their future life so if they don't want to lose their qualifications and hope to continue their musical careers in the future that they need to serve in this ensemble.

good afternoon comrades girl to korea colonel what maddie's. you look tired because today is your first day off and even then not all of you will get much rest. everybody must go to their location for a cleaning gertie's which must be finished by ten o'clock then you start your own preparations everybody stays at his own location so. you know we're not divided here into soldiers not just so we're all together i mean we all have our own tutors to perform don't so must always be perfectly tidy we always have to look good there should be no bad smells or anything like that our uniforms must be clean and everyone has to look after themselves.

sometimes you feel so tired and worn out after a hustles you just run out of energy but you still have to clean up in the concert hall or something is that i tried to take it easy and roll with the punches of course it doesn't always work out but at least i try. stole their stuff what are you doing with your feet and that and that one two or three that you did that it was a face you know what you look like right now we'll make it mean face. that. there were many people at my choreography school didn't matter so much here there are a lot of men so on stage they put the tallest guys in the front line and the shortest guys and i lost. that at first i didn't quite understand why i

was in the back row and i thought i must have been dancing really badly and that was why they later told me it was just because of my height but you can always turn a drawback into something positive i do some trick dances they throw me up in the air or something like that so in the end it turned out that my height is an advantage becomes in hunting. we need to see this week to have a minute once here. in the album but it's not. there is a minute there is a military strike. but you don't see so just. the parts of experience to say.

this is a special program created for tourists in st petersburg no anthem no war songs no modern tricks only the tried and tested hits that have been popular for decades russian audiences are bored with them were as foreign as who've never seen russian soldiers on stage before surrender to the. wonderful acts the dull absolutely amazing amazing. places we travel a lot told sorts of countries we can usually see the people approach short concerts with a measure of suspicion but after a while they start to warm up we can feel that the audience opens up people begin to accept us when we get to the end of the first section the very final number in the first half of the concert we can already feel but the audience is on our side.

well. science technology innovation all the news developments around russia we've got the future covered. all across the world middle classes from the traditional rich to emerging economies feel the pain of the global financial crisis millions demand governments to be more accountable and have strategies to meet rising expectations the failure to do so has led to mass protests and political people is the world prepared for a globalized middle class. right from the scene. of the first strike to use a knife gripping pictures. on

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are. he flew all over the last. yesterday because back talk or to sit around twelve we watched quick and went straight to sleep things like this and it's stay we were up at seven even though it's a sunday when we're usually up at eight and that's because of the concert they we had to make it seven i think that's why from fell asleep in the bus. came back late yesterday and on top of that i had to work the night shift on the checkpoint and today they tell me i'll be huston's a concert yesterday i really didn't expect that because i've never done it before a concert so now i'm working on what i'll say for. my decree of the russian empress nikolai the second they've let in their military

camp was established here with one hundred ten years ago the anniversary is celebrated in the open air at the very center of the garrison the tables are laid with quilts cork and the stage is set the garrison command is had no doubt which bad would be invited to perform on the stage only the military ensemble can offer add to our performance of song and dance free of charge and need a dressing room no rehearsal time that's the last time we had a concert at our school it rained on the stage became a skating rink but we kept going the weather is good in the stages with me so i won't be slippery i guess it's like this every so i'm very rapid deployment force getting ready for landing you get those and then comes when the concert begins first of all you congratulate the audience and then introduce that ensemble. that all the all over the. whole world to lead him to.

blame. it's the military that's why it's like that's. normal where you stay away people need celebration it's what we do. live at first only the children seem to be happy to see the musical army the same performance that only yesterday want to plus from foreign tourists is now greeted with a barely lukewarm reception hard pressed soldiers can only be churned up by pretty girls dancing on stage many have already celebrated their motherland their friends health and the success of russia's armed forces they couldn't care less about what's happening on stage despite the tough audience the musical army refuses to give up. leave. because we have to improvise on the spot because some mikes were shot and others were counseled. and had high expectations for the

new dance but it failed to be an effective weapon in the unit's armory it did however change the course of the battle there were still more surprises in store. the come one. come. on only you feed on. the on the on the mountain. did you like it thank you that was from the soul you're welcome thank you it was so great we loved it.

back in my day they wouldn't even have let me join the ensemble it's been. they'd never even listen to. rock n roll. that's not what we're about and that's what i think and i won't pretend otherwise it would be used if a man deserves all openly acknowledge his talents and say that it's the real thing . but if it's all about this. it's distasteful i feel insulted for the same. for him but for the whole ensemble. i think it's just my own special kind of thing all this can sing romance and stuff like that and i can do rock'n'roll sing it and dance it was the discussions like that will never cease our team is very diverse when it comes to age we have eighteen year old boys and at the same time there are men who are well over seventy of course they feel much closer to the old soviet period style they don't quite understand what we're doing now i think that deep down in their hearts they don't

like the motor material and from time to time they say what they think still we all realize that there's no other way forward for the ensemble. one. yes that works better guys so it was great. very much younger people here naturally they want something that's smaller and shoot with their time. it's true that rock n roll was all the rage back in the fifty's but even now it's a giant leap forward for the military. when. the lobby began his service he could hardly wait quick to end so that he could go to new york but now he's even considering staying here in st petersburg. if there were to offer me an extension of my contract. i'd probably agree with the prospects here it gets . to have somewhere to live and you can have quite

a good life on the salary. simply classical program was arranged in one nine hundred twenty eight while the chorus the orchestra or the ballet all these elements had a patriotic touch to them on top of that we had to show our great culture but we had to change we began to take up new modern dances and that's led to a new kind of vocal and instrumental in song. we have a really spectacular show for and this is quite different was our own soldiers for them we play songs for the soul but george numbers things like that leave their

morale and make them think at the same time we want to make them relax for a beat to forget about their military service for a little while. and i've got the lyrics for a new song for the also says he wants to be a kind of retsina so quite soon we're going to be the from an arab song which i'm at the why on earth do we need this rapper soon i don't understand snow you would be told just flying around and swinging one way then the other why do we have good music russian press a call for the people who are all. ensemble veteran alexander has not performed a solo part for several years he stands in the back row of the chorus singing out

the low notes with his powerful bass he admits that his time is rapidly fading. would you. like to see john faces things to. fire that stars to my best to stay in shape your father would have a lot of experience and sometimes i listen to me but sometimes they just seriousness of us you know from the last century old man. hold on don't lean on me it'll fall no one to secured areas if you know. how to get together. we'll both have to carry a. lego room with you promo one hour we're going to have sound. only been here for five minutes and you send half an hour to have twenty five minutes before the concert and he still keeps saying half an hour all the time. captains in a can hide his anxiety this is the moment of truth very soon he will find out if

the modernization has been a success and if it can stay in tune with the times or should the also get weapon be discarded as obsolete. musical armies giving a concert for a regular military unit in fact this is exactly the audience that the song and dance ensemble was made for when was established five years ago but now the crowd appears downcast tired and very skeptical. so we don't have concerts every day so we want to see some sense specials not just the usual stuff but it's all one would you tell it to last an hour with the words you would be better. hold on this piece is up someone else out.

of the soldiers had intended to go through the concepts but it actually woke them up they smiled a little at the comedy boxing but what really won them over was hearing a simple honest and humorous song about the harsh routine the military life. thank. you.

thank you. it's actually a brilliant concept it was really cool. it was all some really beautiful beautiful i like the trumpet most of all. the book. blood of attention fall in columns of three march. i think they enjoyed the concerts. they were shouting and whistling. really well. with the concept i think they were all moved by.

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