The Residential College continues a long-standing tradition of connecting students with great artists from around the world that link to our expansive and diverse curricular offerings. In this spirit, we are pleased to welcome Irina Khutsieva and Pak Raharja to Ann Arbor from Moscow and Jogjakarta, respectively. 

The Indonesian government, in partnership with the U-M LSA Center for Southeast Asian Studies and the RC, funds the residency of Pak Raharja and he serves as a guest instructor for Residential College and the School of Music, Theatre and Dance this semester. He is on the faculty at ISI Jogjakarta, a large national conservatory of the arts, where he teaches courses in ethnomusicology and music of the gamelan, an ensemble of gongs, drums, metalophones, singers and stringed instruments. He is teaching U-M students to play gamelan instruments in preparation for a music and dance concert on December 9, 2018 at 4pm at the Stamps Auditorium in the Walgreen Drama Center. All are welcome and there's no admission fee. For more information, please contact the GSI for the gamelan courses, Conner VanderBeek at csv@umich.edu. 

Irina Khutsieva's successful Moscow-based Chamber Theatre, founded 2003, has put on a series of very well-received productions and has propelled a significant number of young actors to professional prominence. Under Irina's leadership, the organization has performed to critical acclaim at festivals in Germany, Poland, Holland, Finland, Austria, and Switzerland. In the Residential College this term, Irina will stage dramatic études and plays based on Russian folk materials and literary tales, with one group working in Russian and one in English – and these will be performed in the RC’s Keene Theater, Saturday, December 8 from 3-5 pm and Sunday, December 9 from 6-8 pm. 

In addition to producing the two plays, Ira will also be giving talks on the Russian theatre today, including this talk, co-presented by the LSA Center for Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (CREES) on 31 October, as well as workshops on theatre and language-learning – details to follow.  Moreover, she will be available for individual consultation for anyone interested in learning more about the Moscow theatrical scene today or about how to use the techniques of drama pedagogy in the language class room.  If you would like to invite Ira to a class, to give a workshop, or to a consultation, or if you would simply like to meet her, please do not hesitate to email Alina Makin, head of the RC Russian program, at resco@umich.edu.