Hundreds join Moscow flash mob to mark Pushkin’s birthday (PHOTO)
Hundreds of people joined a flash mob in Moscow on Thursday to mark the 225th birthday of renowned Russian 19th-century poet and author Alexander Pushkin. The event was hosted by the Russia EXPO international exhibition held at the All-Russian Exhibition Center (VDNKh) in the capital.
The flash mob organizers expected more than 200 people to simultaneously recite an excerpt from Pushkin’s poem ‘Ruslan and Ludmila’. The actual turnout would prove to be even bigger. According to the Russia EXPO, as many as 500 people took part in the event, as visitors to the exhibition, including both children and adults, eagerly joined the performance.
“Pushkin has created the modern Russian language. His works are immortal and well-known around the world. They unite our nation and we are proud of them,” Anastasia Zvyagina, the deputy CEO of the Russia EXPO, said.
Foreign nationals were also among those who joined the flash mob, as participants of the BRICS drama school festival, which is also being held in Moscow, took part as well. The message of Pushkin’s poetry is “universal,” a South African student and aspiring actor, Asanda Mngadi, said. “It is that message that resonates regardless of the language. And regardless of the way it is written.”
The event was followed by a colorful, theatricalized march involving participants wearing early 19th-century costumes and dressed as characters from Pushkin’s fairy tales. The march was accompanied by an orchestra and was also joined by more than 1,000 exhibition visitors, including young people from Belarus, India, China, South Africa, Iran, and the UAE, according to the Russia EXPO.
