I was born in Russia in 1979 and have loved being the centre of attention since I was a baby. Later this evolved into an interest in theatre and dance. At 3 I moved to Uzbekistan, then a republic of the USSR. I started ballroom dancing when I was 5 years old, and by the time I was 12 I had achieved national status in Uzbekistan. From the very beginning I just loved competing and performing and seeing all those faces looking at me... so at about 7 I started joining in children's theatre groups and performing in plays and concerts. I came to Australia when I was 13 years old.
...now what?
Since coming to Australia, I have done a lot of school productions, etc., most of which are probably not really worth mentioning as they were just plays. Only tree things I consider real achievements:
Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"
Although a school production, this was quite a challenge. I was cast in the role of Judge Danforth and, being shorter than most of my co-actors (I'm 5'6) I had to really assert my authority on stage, which meant I did A LOT of work on voice, stage presence, posture, etc. in preparation for this role. In the end all the hard work and training really paid off and we had a full house every night of the performance!!
"The Shifting Heart"
The second role that I think is worth mentioning is Momma, an elderly Italian immigrant mother in '50s Australia, which was another challenging role. The play is called "The Shifting Heart" and is by an australian playwright (whose name I can't remember, but will find out asap and pur it here). One would think that challenge of this role would be that I was supposed to be a 50-year-old woman with and Italian accent, but that would mean that you're assuming that since I'm Russian, I don't speak Italian. As a matter of fact I do fluently, along with French. No, that was not the challenge. The challenge was that this is a very demanding role emotionally (my son gets killed at a disco just for being Italian) and I had to learn to cry on stage without letting it affect my own emotional state. I learned to dissociate from my character, and not get overinvolved in their life.
"Living on the Edge" - a musical
Thirdly, and most people would probably not bother mentioning this... I had a small part in the chorus of a Christian musical production called "Living on the Edge". This was a production by a Salvation Army youth singing group, called Solid Rock, which I joined because I wanted to learn to sing and it was an excuse to get up on stage now and again :o) The reason I consider this worth putting in my Resume is that it was most challenging: normally an alto, I have asked to be cast as a soprano, just to get some experience and expand my vocal range. With Living on the Edge we performed in 2 different cities and all proceeds went to charity :o)
