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On February 11, I had the opportunity to attend a benefit for the Chernobyl Children’s Project International’s cardiac surgery program. The event, at Romanov Restaurant & Lounge in Studio City in Los Angeles, was hosted by singer/songwriter Oksana Grigorieva, who performed her charity single Angel. Along with Mel Gibson, Ms. Grigorieva spoke eloquently about the continuing needs of the people affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

I feel a strong personal connection to this part of the world, and to the disaster that changed so many lives. Every summer until I was eight years old, my family left city life in St. Petersburg to spend time in the countryside of Ukraine. After the disaster, we never went again.

It has been so many years that it may be easy to forget that the people of Ukraine and Belarus are still affected by this event. In fact, according to the Chernobyl Children’s Project, over 6,000 children are born there every year with genetic heart disorders, and half of them will not receive the surgery they need.

I was deeply moved by the information shared at the benefit, about the remarkable work being done to help these children and their families, as well as to continue rebuilding the community in the affected areas. I am eager to become more involved, and hope to host a similar benefit this summer, here in Chicago.

Aleksandra at Cinderella

Elizaveta, her daughter Klava and I had a magical evening last week, at the opening night of the Joffrey Ballet’s exquisite Cinderella, a Frederick Ashton revival staged for the Joffrey by Wendy Ellis Somes.

We were enchanted by the scenery and costumes, as well as the brilliant dancing, especially by Victoria Jaiani as Cinderella.

It’s always wonderful to share such an experience with my niece, who adores going to performances and never wants the show to end. (She’d also be happy to join the dancers on stage!)

Elizaveta was especially impressed with the visual art of the production. “It had a gorgeous glittering effect, from the lights to the scenery to the costumes – just beautiful,” she said.

Cinderella runs until Sunday, February 28. Read the Chicago Tribune review here.

Aleksandra Efimova

Shopping, shopping, shopping… When we hear this word, we may think of endless racks of clothes or shoes, colorful bags filled with our purchases, and swiping the American Express card to pay for these material indulgences. But several days ago, I found myself in the middle of a vastly different shopping situation, with no dressing rooms or size options, no gift wrap or gift cards, no credit card receipts to sign.

In fact, I was at the expo of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference, which brings together an amazing international array of performers, presenters and managers, with executive directors of theaters and concert halls.

The directors had a wide range of shopping options. From household names like Hubbard Street and Paul Taylor, to those seldom seen in the U.S., such as Ballet Folklórico de Antioquia; from classical musicians and dancers to the innovative Nai-Ni Chen; from acts intended for the most sophisticated audience to the child-friendly American Family Theater, there was no shortage of choices and temptations. (If only I had my own theater!)

Personal shopping can be challenging, especially when we’re choosing gifts and trying to keep the recipients’ tastes and preferences above our own. A theater director faces a more complex challenge in choosing performances for upcoming schedules. He or she must balance audience preferences, responses and feedback on previous seasons, and the tastes and trends of current society, with the need to stay true to the organization’s vision and mission. Personal tastes certainly play a role in the process, too. Predictably, this can be a hard balance to achieve, and the director may feel pulled in different directions.

When I was a little girl, my loving grandparents read to me the old Russian fairy tale “Lebed, Rak and Schyka” (“Swan, Crawfish and Pike”). In the tale, three very different animals tried to move a carriage at the same time. The problem was that Lebed flew upward, Rak pushed toward the fields and Schyka used all her efforts to move the carriage toward the water. Needless to say, at the end of the story the carriage was exactly where it was at the beginning. The moral of the story is that when people work against each other, little can be accomplished. We have to make sure that everyone on the team agrees on the final goal and direction, and to choose the right people for the team. I was probably two years old when I first heard these words of wisdom, and they still ring true, and are often repeated even at Harvard Business School (where I’ll be attending my culminating term of the Owner/President Management Program next month).

The theater director’s shopping task may seem exciting and glamorous, but he or she must feel pulled in as many directions as there are potential audience members, in trying to meet everyone’s expectations at the same time that he or she makes choices that truly inspire. Standing on the expo floor, I realized that the decisions about to be made would bring dancers, singers, musicians, actors and other performers from all over the world to millions of audience members; I thought about the potential impact of those decisions. Every performance we see leaves a mark on our lives, a mark that we can’t always anticipate as the curtain rises. When the performance is of the highest caliber, it will entertain but also challenge and inspire us. We may find a connection to our own lives, or discover new ways to explore our own dreams long after the curtain goes down.

Can the average shopper make a mark on others with their purchasing decisions? As I watch young ballerinas being fitted for pointe shoes at our Boutique, I think of how their choices may affect their artistic growth, and how they may awe audiences in a few years. Top chefs awe their own audiences – restaurant diners – partly based on carefully selecting the finest produce, meat and seafood (like they did during the Australian-inspired food show last weekend at Chicago Trump Hotel). On an everyday level, fashion-minded ladies scanning the sales racks of the Magnificent Mile may be about to turn heads on the street with their striking new outfits. It could be said that all of our shopping has an impact – superficial or of much greater depth – on those around us.

One of the most Magnificent things about working and living on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile (a.k.a. Michigan Avenue) – in addition to the breathtaking architecture, incredible flower displays and tempting shop windows (especially the ones with sale signs!) – is seeing the smiles of shoppers carrying gift bags for their friends and relatives. We’ve all heard, and said, that giving is as satisfying, if not more so, than receiving. It can be such a pleasure to choose a gift for someone we care about, and we look forward with hope to the pleasure it will give to the recipient, the smile it may bring.

Each time I look at the “card wall” at our office, I can’t help smiling. The wall is filled with holiday greetings from around the world, each expressing the sender’s individual personality, cultural tradition and special energy. Beautiful young dancers sent cards with their own photos in tutus, pictures of nutcrackers and traditional family images. My Harvard friend from Sydney, Australia sent a card with the Picasso Peace Dove; Mayor Daley sent a delightful family photo with his grandchildren; the Russian Embassy’s card has an image of Moscow’s Red Square. Each time I opened one of these envelopes, I felt that I was traveling to another part of the world, or to the home of a friend. What an important, meaningful gift!

Gift-giving has been a constant theme for most cultures throughout history, and the importance of gifts has inspired many scenes in ballet. In Sleeping Beauty, the fairies’ gifts are central to the story, for better or worse. Romeo gently and passionately presents flowers to Juliet. Tchaikovsky dedicated the entire second act of his Nutcracker Suite to the gift to Clara of dances from around the world.

One of the most vivid gifts of dance I have personally witnessed was at a friend’s wedding. The bride danced “Malaguena,” a Spanish-inspired dance by composer Lecuna from the ballet Proud Heritage, a Trilogy of the Southwest (originally performed by Pajarito Ballet Theatre of Santa Fe) for her newlywed husband. He had never seen her dance, as they had met a month after she retired as a performer. Halfway through this dance, guests were in tears. It was filled with so much love, passion and sensuality that it conveyed her gift of partnership and commitment better than any words could.

The heart-felt creative work of composers, choreographers and visual artists has the power to move audience’s minds and hearts even centuries later. I view their masterpieces as the supreme gift to the universe. Recently, I read in a best-selling book that the meaning of life is to love, be loved and never stop learning. I agree with this sentiment, but would add one more item to the list: to give and share both ideas and meaningful material gifts to enhance the lives of others, even if it’s just with a postcard!

As I walk down the Magnificent Mile to the Russian Pointe offices, I am thinking about what I can share in 2010 – both tangible and intangible – that will make a positive difference. I’m excited about sharing the comfort and beauty of our new Spotlight Collection pointe shoes, and looking forward to upcoming seminars, when Authorized Retailers will enjoy fellowship and sharing of expertise. Also included in my plans for the upcoming year is to continue building bridges between Russian and American cultures, work that is important to me because of the mutual understanding and benefit that these bridges bring.

As we begin the New Year, I want to thank all of you for your best wishes during the holiday season. It gives me so much pleasure to know that Russian Pointe has an important place in your lives.

What goes into hosting a successful, memorable and exciting seminar at Russian Pointe?  Hundreds of hours of preparation – from arranging a delicious menu at Russian Tea Time, a restaurant across from the Art Institute of Chicago, to making hotel arrangements at the newly remodeled Allerton Hotel on Michigan Avenue; from producing and publishing our 64-page Fitting Manual, a truly unique and remarkably complete resource, to videotaping a 45-minute fitting video; from rehearsing with fitting models to briefing Russian Pointe staff on our goals and objectives for seminars.

Why we do it? Of course, we hope that seminars will ultimately lead to an increase in customer loyalty and sales, and we certainly enjoy such personal interaction with our retailers (not to mention a delicious dinner with champagne!). But, the real reason, for me, is to realize that Russian Pointe makes a difference in people’s lives – both on and off the stage.

Please watch the video from our most recent seminar (November 2009) and hear heart-touching stories about becoming more empowered, confident and successful as a result of affiliation with Russian Pointe.

Thank you for making Russian Pointe a part of your world!

Aleksandra

Can contrasting elements combine to create the most exciting and unexpected outcomes? Absolutely! This was certainly the case for me on a late November Sunday, when warm sunshine and cold ice came together for one of my most memorable afternoons of the year. With the temperature a comfortable 50°F, many Chicagoans were enjoying skating at Chicago’s Millennium Park, where the ice rink is free and open to the public. For me, experiencing the day with my niece Klava, it was a good demonstration of the saying, “The best things in life are free.”

I thought about the contrast between sun and ice, and also in ice itself. The whole concept of ice amazes me; shapeless, flexible, flowing water, after a small temperature change, becomes a surface that is hard (especially when you fall), sharp (have you ever had an ice cut?) and supportive (enough to resist the sharp blades of ice skates). Snow presents its own contrasts. Packed into towering banks, it can bring a city to a standstill, holding up transportation and canceling important events. Yet, individual snowflakes melt almost instantly if you catch them in your hand, and their crystalline beauty awes us all.

Many times, amazing things happen when contrasting elements work together like sun and ice, one calling into focus the qualities of the other. The strength of dancers’ bodies, and the lightness of their movement. The powerful dynamic of music, and the gentleness of a sustained note on the flute or violin. Perhaps the essence of talent is finding unexpected combinations that ordinarily we might not consider. The results can be breathtaking, and lead to moments of discovery.

This is true in the arts, and in the sciences. It’s also true in everyday life. For example, have you ever added dark chocolate to beef stew? Try it – it’s delicious! How about strawberries on sushi? (I’m not sure a Japanese chef would approve, but it’s a wonderful, complementary flavor.)

Next month, I begin my fourth year without a television or computer in my home. This might be a surprise for anyone who knows that I am likely to answer messages on my BlackBerry from the middle of a cruise or a train ride in Belorussia! But I’ve found that I can be interested in and informed about the world without being weighed down with the information overload of constant news and entertainment.

As we finish this interesting and memorable year, I’m not putting a TV on my Christmas list, but I am renewing my subscriptions to the Harvard Business Review, Russian Life Magazine and The Economist. As the streets freeze (in Chicago, we can get frozen eyelashes in the morning walk to work!), I look forward to warm, quiet evenings with a cup of good Russian tea, and to taking Klava to the rest of the Joffrey Ballet season, and the Nutcracker Family Dinner.

Warmth amid the chill; melting balances followed by fiery pirouettes; the newness of the world to a child, re-opening older eyes. Everyday contrasts like these make every day a new discovery.

Welcome to the first Russian National Exhibition at Chicago’s McCormick Place!

The exhibition – running from November 18^th to 21^st – was opened by Mayor Daley, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and a representative from the Russian Trade Ministry. Members of over 100 Russian manufacturing companies traveled across the world to meet with potential clients, partners and business connections in the Chicago area. Guests were entertained by dancers in national costumes, Russian folk musicians and other artists.

This exhibition is an important demonstration of Chicago’s role in Russian-American relations. As an active participant in Russian-American trade for the past 12 years, and founder of Russian Foundation of Chicago, it was with true pride that I witnessed this historical moment in the relationship between these two great countries.

“Harvard 2009 – Let’s get started!” I thought, as the taxi slowly entered the campus, surrounded by golden-red foliage and the classic Bostonian architecture and contemporary sculptures of Harvard University. On the way from the airport I had reminisced about my last Harvard Business School session, while enjoying newly familiar sights like the wide, graceful Charles River dotted with shells carrying rowing crews practicing for the historic Head of the Charles regatta. Upon arrival, my little dorm room brought back memories, as did the classrooms, professors and classmates.

But, familiar as it all was, I knew that this session would be different from the last. Encountering the recognizable, but meeting it with new experience and growth, made me think about the shape of life. It certainly isn’t a straight line, with a clearly marked and determined passage from one point to the next and no consideration for the past. It’s not a circle, where we return again and again to the same point without changing. It may bring us back to the same places and events, but when we build on the wisdom of the past, life becomes an upward spiral of growth and enrichment.

The HBS program included subjects similar to last year’s – Innovation, Marketing and Branding (my hand was up all the time!), Global Finance, Accounting (heartfelt thanks to the inventor of the calculator…). But, although the subjects were the same, our understanding, connection and “take-aways” (concepts to apply to real life) were different, building on what we had learned last year and how we had grown since then.

Regular reality checks came in the form of quotes like “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare,” pushing us to clearly identify our vision, goals and implementation plans; “I believe in God; for the rest, bring proof,” propelling us into Baker Library for in-depth, solid research; and my favorite: “If you think you are so great, why aren’t you better?” which put everyone’s ego back into a humble place.

As I go back to the drawing board – refining our pointe collections, wholesale service and retail operation – our vision and goals are clear: to always offer the most beautiful, highest-quality, best-fitting shoes; to share expertise with the dance community; to support the arts; and to continue to set and maintain the highest standards in customer service. To avoid daydreaming, we are busy turning our vision into actions with measurable outcomes.

One important project that we’ve undertaken is comprehensive research, in order to ensure that we continue to fulfill dancers’ needs. After a round of interviews, we have created a survey for our Authorized Retailers, who have such valuable and specialized knowledge and perceptions to share. We have already begun to plan products and services to meet the desires expressed to us so far. (Sneak peeks: increased educational efforts, much-requested posters with breathtaking ballet images, and an increased schedule of travel to meet with our clientele!)

For the last six months I’ve watched my 3-year-old niece wearing ballet tutus 24 hours a day (including sleeping, eating and matching her tutu with her rain boots!). She has no limitations on being who she wants to be – even when her mother asks her to wear pajamas instead of her tutu, or the weather report warns of thunderstorms, you can’t stop her from being a ballerina like those she saw recently at the Joffrey Ballet’s opening night of Othello.

As children, we do not fear failure. In the adult world, my niece’s behavior may be just playacting and daydreaming, but her self-confidence and insistence upon living her dream are inspiring. The truth is that, with good planning and realistic evaluation of your skills and resources, action can turn dreams to reality. As our lives cycle through seasons, years, places and events, we can aim to turn life’s circles into an upward spiral, ever reaching for greater heights as we learn from the past and turn dreams into action.

If we adults could take a lesson from my young niece and set aside our fears of failure, imagine the possibilities. If you could be sure that you would not fail, what would you do? I say, it’s time to shoot for the stars.

Did you ever dream of taking a part of the magic of ballet home with you? As a member of the Joffrey Circle Associates Event Committee, it is my pleasure to invite you to the very first Joffrey Costume Vault sale. From exquisite costumes to sparkling accessories, you will find in each purchase a piece of history, drama, romance of ballet and theater life to add to your arts collection. And with the holidays coming up, perhaps you’ll find the perfect gift for the dancer or dance-lover in your life – it’s guaranteed to be one of a kind!

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