Schedule for November

Lecture about George and Ira Gershwin

Within the framework of the project “U.S. ART Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” WOA Centre organized a lecture about George and Ira Gershwin for the students of the local Pedagogical College and other interested public (Gabfest Club members and other Art fans). The lecture took place at the DOUNB library Art department. The WOA staff – S. Usenko and T.Gavryliuk – prepared informative slide show s “Gershwin’s biography” and “Verdi of America”. The slide shows presented important facts about the life of the cult American composer and illustrated them with relevant images and soundtracks. The audience absorbed the information and answered the lecturers’ questions.
 
The guest lecturer invited to the session was Doctor of Musical science Ms. Iryna Riabtseva. She is a lecturer at the Dnipropetrovsk Conservatorium and a member of the National Composers’ Association of Ukraine. Her speech covered the analysis of Gershwin’s best known musical works “Rhapsody in Blue” (1924), opera “Porgy and Bess” (1935). 
The audience had a chance to enjoy the musical videos from the Internet compiled by S. Usenko.
The lecture was complemented with the book and sheet music display “American Music and Musicians”; the sheet music used for the lecture aroused a lot of interest in future music teachers.
Participants number – 49 persons.

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The Bridges of Madison County

Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine offered screening of the film The Bridges of Madison County, 1995.
The Bridges of Madison County is a 1995 American romantic drama film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Robert James Waller. It was produced by Amblin Entertainment and Malpaso Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment. The film was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with Kathleen Kennedy as co-producer and the screenplay was adapted by Richard LaGravenese. 

The film stars Eastwood and Meryl Streep. Streep received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination in 1996 for her performance in the film.

The Bridges of Madison County – Quotes 

Celebrating with friends

Today the staff of Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, was invited to a formal meeting at the Dnipropetrovsk National Mining University. The Foreign Languages Chair of the University is a long time WOA’s partner. The NMU’s FL Chair actively participates in Fulbright academic exchange programs and introduces all the Fulbright professors to the WOA Centre. The professors become loyal friends of the WOA and it Clubs. This year’s Fulbright lecturer – Mr. Brian Chung – was introduced to the WOA staff during the formal meeting at the Mining University. We have made plans for the future cooperation with Mr. Chung who is the youngest of all the Fulbright lecturers so far.
For the 80th anniversary of the FL Chair the WOA’s Head Svitlana Usenko wrote an article which was published in the University newspaper (edition of 500 copies). The formal meeting today demonstrated to the WOA staff the importance of the English language for the NMU academics and students. We have congratulated the colleagues, wished them many good things and enjoyed a lovely concert performed by the students and lecturers of the University.

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U.S. Art Residence - announcement

U.S. Music - 3

The "U.S. Art Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” project involved a group of students from the local school No. 141. to present a lecture “U.S. Music”.
The 11th-year students learned a lot of curious facts about the history of the American music at the Window on America (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine). They have listened to the musical fragments that introduced typical American styles of music: jazz, country, pop, rock, disco, zydeco, gospel, etc. They also learned about the world known American opera composer – George Gershwin – and listened to some tunes from his cult opera “Porgy and Bess”. The students learned about the musical instruments that are specific for each of the above musical styles and learned new vocabulary.
The students with interest examined the books and images that illustrate the topic at a book display at the Window on America Centre.
 Number of participants – 28 (1teacher + 27 pupils).

Parliamentary Elections

Today’s session of the GABFEST Club in the information and resource center "Window on America" (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the topic “Parliamentary Elections”. On the eve of the early elections in Ukraine (due on Sunday) the topic was welcomed by the majority of the participants. The presence of our American volunteer Mr. Josh was very motivating as it allowed the group to demonstrate their knowledge of the Ukrainian election legislation, as well as the vocabulary for the topic.
 

We started with the conversation about the major political parties in the USA, their symbols; the seat of the US Congress – United States Capitol - and its architecture. From that point we moved to the Ukrainian realities and introduced Mr. Josh to the building of the Ukrainian parliament, its architecture and other relevant things – the interiors of the Verkhovna Rada, the MPs’ work seat equipment, etc. The most challenging task was to explain what was depicted in the huge painting in the lobby of the Ukrainian Parliament. The Club’s activist Larissa was the only one who knew the story behind the impressive painting. Several American news videos about parliamentary elections in Ukraine were demonstrated to the group to introduce relevant vocabulary.
The funniest part of the conversation was about the American influence on one of the Ukraine’s political parties.

The Ukrainian party exploits the world known character from the Star Wars saga – Darth Vader – as the party representative in all recent elections in Ukraine. We discussed the political technologies behind this phenomenon. 

For those who were not fans of the Star Wars we demonstrated short videos about Darth Vader’s suit and its purpose. The impressive music – the Imperial March – used by the Ukrainian party was also presented to the group.
The final part of the session was used to introduce the big group of the newcomers.
A short Q@A session with Mr. Josh wrapped up this educational meeting of the Gabfest Club.
Number of participants – 27 persons.
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An American in Paris

Within the framework of the project “U.S. Art Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” the Window on America center

Dnipropetrovsk offered screening of the drama film An American in Paris (1951) with Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant starring.

An American in Paris is a 1951 American musical film inspired by the 1928 orchestral composition by George Gershwin. Starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary, and Nina Foch, the film is set in Paris, and was directed by Vincente Minnelli from a script by Alan Jay Lerner. The music is by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, with additional music by Saul Chaplin, the music director.

 The story of the film is interspersed with dance numbers choreographed by Gene Kelly and set to Gershwin's music. Songs and music include "I Got Rhythm", "I'll Build A Stairway to Paradise", " 'S Wonderful", and "Our Love is Here to Stay". 
The climax of the film is "The American in Paris" ballet, a 16 minute dance featuring Kelly and Caron set to Gershwin's An American in Paris. The ballet alone cost more than $500,000.

FLEX Alumni Conference

Dnipropetrovsk alumni conference meeting took place at Window on America center. 
Alumni of the FLEX exchange program have discussed the future projects plan and were motivated to make a positive change in their community.
Participants number – 9 persons.

Gershwin is the American equivalent of Verdi

Within the framework of the project “U.S. Art Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” the session of English speaking club GABFEST was dedicated to George and Ira Gershwin and took place at the DOUNB library Art department.
The session’s moderator T.Gavryliuk prepared an informative slide show “Verdi of America”. The slide show presented important facts about the life of the cult American composer and illustrated them with relevant images. The Club members had to read and translate the slides’ texts, to answer the moderator’s questions.
The most complicated language activity offered to the club members was to render into English the speech of the guest lecturer. The guest lecturer invited to the session was Doctor of Musical science Ms. Iryna Riabtseva. She is a lecturer at the Dnipropetrovsk Conservatorium and a member of the National Composers’ Association of Ukraine. She presented a lecture “George Gershwin – the legend and the symbol”. The lecture covered several important topics – Gershwin’s educational background, the dynamics of his musical career, analysis of his best known musical works “Rhapsody in Blue” (1924), Piano Concerto in F (1925), opera “ Porgy and Bess” (1935).

The audience had a chance to enjoy the musical videos from the Internet compiled by S.Usenko and an excerpt from the movie “The American in Paris” (part of the WOA’s US Classical Movie collection). This movie will be screened on Wednesday, October, 22 at a Movie club session.
The final surprise of the session was a live performance of a Gershwin’s potpourri by the students of Dnipropetrovsk Conservatorium - Dariya Oleksienko (piano) and Oleksiy Movchan (saxophone). The Club members were delighted with the live music and the new format of the language session. The guests received the round of applause and autumn flowers.

The Club session was complemented with the book and image display “American Muisc and Musicians”; the books used for the display were in three languages and belong to several departments of the DOUNB library.
The hostess of the session S. Ponomarenko invited the colleagues and the guests for an after-event tea. With the background of Gershwin’s music we discussed the plans for future cooperation of the DOUNB Library and Dnipropetrovsk Conservatorium.
Participants number – 35 persons.
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Strangers on a Train

 Window on America center offered screening of the comedy film Strangers on a Train (1951) with Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman starring.
The film was presented to all who wish to improve their language skills.
Plot: A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder...a theory that he plans to implement.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Raymond Chandler (screen play), Czenzi Ormonde (screen play)

U.S. Art Residence: Music and Musicians

Within the framework of the project “U.S. ART Residence in Dnipropetrovsk” the first book display was presented in the DOUNB library Art department - “Music and musicians”. The display showcases the books from three library departments and in three languages (English, Ukrainian and Russian).The books are complemented with bright magazine illustrations, CDs with music and DVDs with films – classical American musicals. The American symbols decorate the display to enhance the effect.
Anyone interested can look through the books, watch an American musical or listen to the American music at the work station installed nearby.
Musical encyclopedia and reference books introduce the readers to the evolution of the American music. Classical music is represented with the music of George Gershwin and L. Bernstein. The majority of the books are about jazz and jazzmen, but pop and rock are also represented.  The highlight of the display is information about the queen of American pop – Madonna.
Come and visit the display – enrich your knowledge of modern music!

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Stress. Ways to Relieve Stress

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the topic «Stress. Ways to Relieve Stress».
 
The group talked about stress and how to deal with it, how one can prevent stress or to remedy the consequences and effects on the human body. All participants shared their experiences of coping with stress. The topic allowed everyone to speak as we all suffer from stress.  Even the newcomers took active part in the discussion. We thank center’s volunteer Ms. Larissa Karnoza  for moderating this interesting session.

The session was enjoyed by all the participants.
Number of participants – 29 persons.

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