Volgograd province, Russia June 2010

Don Cossack Folklore Expedition – 2010

We continued to document and investigate the Don Cossack singing traditions, by recording the traditions of three new choirs.

Here is what our scholarship recipient, Michael Young, shared about his experience on this expedition:

Thanks to Lena’s passion for folklore and its preservation as well as her considerable research skills, we were able to record three new choirs in Serafimovich district in addition to collecting further information from the two choirs that AFRF worked with in January 2009 (in Ust’-Khoperskii and Rybnyi Khutor)….[W]hen I say that words cannot describe the experience I had, I hope you’ll understand.  In the course of ten short days, I went from being an American among a village of strangers to a (albeit short-term) member of a vibrant community.  It never ceases to amaze me how open Russian hearts can be, giving their guests everything imaginable – housing, milk, transportation…even a 3+ foot catfish one day!  AFRF’s scholarship gave me the opportunity so meet some of the kindest and most generous people I will probably ever meet in my life.