Maiya in the Beautiful Ballet

Answer the questions:

• What is the name of the most famous Moscow theater?
• What other famous theaters of the world have you heard about?
• Which theaters would you like to visit and why?
• Have you been to a ballet show before? If yes, could you describe it, using the points below?

- What was the name of the performance;
- Where it was staged;
- Who wrote the ballet;
- Who were the leading dancers;
- What were the costumes like;
- What was the music like;
- Did you enjoy it or not.

Vocabulary:

1. brilliant - блестящий
2. strict - строгий
3. excitement - оживление
4. a curtain - занавес
5. stage - сцена
6. imperial - императорский
7. a first night - премьера
8. a ticket - билет
9. dressing-room - гримёрка
10. a tutu - балетная пачка
11. ballet pumps - балетки
12. a ribbon - лента
13. fluffy - пушистый
14. longing - сильное желание
15. cross - раздражённый, сердитый
16. complicated - сложный
17. backstage - закулисье
18. orchestra - оркестр
19. a conductor - дирижёр
20. to be in charge - быть ответственным
21. a paw - лапа
22. a cravat - галстук-шарф
23. steamy - запотевший
24. to bow - отдавать поклон

Match the vocabulary above with the definitions:

a)     a hand of an animal

b)    a person who manages an orchestra

c)     to bend your body because you respect someone

d)    a piece of cloth that covers a window or a stage

e)     genius, very good, fantastic

f)      soft, light and nice to touch

g)     a feeling of happiness and joy

h)    teachers are usually like that

i)       another type of a tie

j)       a piece of paper that you can use to go on a plane or to a concert

k)     connected to empire

l)       a first time performance of a play or a movie

m)  a place where actors perform

n)    a place where actors put their makeup on and change into their costumes

o)    ballerina’s shoes

p)    difficult and hard

q)    a ballerina’s skirt

r)      covered in small water drops

s)      to be a boss of something/somebody

t)      a long and narrow piece of material usually used to tie up clothes or hair

u)    space behind the stage

v)     a group of musicians who play together

w)  a strong feeling of wanting something

x)     angry and irritated

Meet Maiya and answer the questions about her:

• What is Maya like?
• Why does she teach little pups of Meerkovo?
• What makes her smile?
• What was her dream and why did she give up on her dream?
• What does she enjoy doing?

Read her book Maiya in the Beautiful Ballet and answer the questions below:

• What is the story about?
• Where is Russian Imperial Theater located?
• What was the name of the ballet? Does the name sound familiar to you? Where is it originally from?
• What was Maya’s dressing room like?
• What was Maya wearing for the performance?
• What did she use to do when she was a tiny meerpup?
• Why was Maya excited about dancing with Alexandrovic Orlovskiy?
• What is dancing like for you, if you are a ballerina?
• What should you feel like to do your best according to Maya?
• Who is Sergeinini and what is he like?
• What was Alexandrovic wearing for the performance?
• How did Maya feel when she was dancing with Alexandrovic?
• What was their dancing like?
• What was happening to Maya in reality?
• What was on a dusty poster on Maya’s wall?
• Alexandr’s life lesson goes ‘Beauty and talent can lurk behind stern exteriors’. Can you explain what it means? Do you agree with that life lesson?

Find all the words in the book that describe THEATER and BALLET, think about:
places,
things,
clothes,
performances,
jobs, etc

Spot the mistake:
Alexandr’s English is not very good, can you make it better? Spot the mistakes in the text and rewrite it, for example:
ORIGINAL ‘She was wanting to be dancer right from days of being a meerpup in little village of Meerkovo.’
CORRECTED ‘She has wanted to be a dancer right from the days of being a meerpup in a little village of Meerkovo.’

Watch a video about Alexandr and his family and answer the questions:

1. Comparethemeerkat.com has not always been a _______ website.

• popular
• successful
• unsuccessful

2. Alexandr’s father’s name was:

• Papa
• Anton
• Andrey

3. Where did he live?

• Saint Petersburg
• London
• Moscow

4. His life was _______:

• easy
• difficult
• boring

5. What does this video advertise?

• house insurance
• health insurance
• car insurance

Learn the vocabulary:

Maiya in the Beautiful Ballet