I finished my fall semester in Berlin and went back home to Kyiv in Ukraine quite abruptly—leaving for the airport immediately after the Goethe Training Exam for the German Language A1 level, which I took in the cozy office of ECLA of Bard’s German Instructor Dirk Deichfuss on December 20th. This space served me well in
Author: Valerie Pochko
Berlinale 2013 or How I moved to Potsdamer Platz for a week
More than a year ago, I mentioned in my ECLA of Bard application letter that volunteering at the Berlinale Film Festival is one of the essential reasons for my moving to Berlin. Needless to say, that all too serious and far–reaching plan almost inevitably failed because of unforeseen reasons––even though I was supported by ECLA
Top-6 films from Berlinale’s “The Weimar Touch” retrospective to watch over the weekend
This weekend, the 63th Berlinale comes to a close. On Saturday, a winner will be chosen and awarded the Golden Bear to reflect superior achievement in film making. However, before all that pomp and circumstance, ECLA of Bard’s film instructor, Prof. Dr. Matthias Hurst, has recommended to the Die Bärliner community the following films in “The
Commedia dell’Arte Workshop with Jon Stancato
Every actor has to constantly try on imaginary masks in order to get used to one role or another. My personal experience of wearing a real mask hovers around playing a fox at a school masquerade and being a phlegmatic zombie at some random Halloween party. But how about wearing a big and stifling mask
My First Political Autumn
I have never been interested in politics. Writing about cinema, animals, food and city traffic, I always considered politics as a predictably double-dealing (although well-paid) field, which never appealed to me. However, my 2012 autumn happened to be extremely politicized. This past October, there were parliamentary elections back in Ukraine, where I come from. I
The ECLA of Bard Ensemble Hobby Singers Public Debut
On the 10th of November, the ECLA of Bard Choir performed at Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte (THBM), which just celebrated its 20th anniversary. For the past two decades, Theaterhaus has been an affordable rehearsal and educational space for all kinds of artists. This time, the creative venue in the city centre covered four floors of more
Fox Plunder
Recently, the web world was astonished by the technically advanced Norwegian fox which stole a 16 year-old guy’s smartphone, managed to receive a call and then even sent an SMS. ECLA of Bard has a companion fox which can be easily found around campus, sunbathing during summer and playing in the snow during winter. Even
Four Seasons by Romeo Castellucci
“Please, don’t forget to take earplugs”—the girl with a tray of small blue things made me feel nervous even before Four Seasons by Romeo Castellucci started. However, the aural risk didn’t scare off Berliners and tourists alike – the show was entirely sold out. Castellucci is originally from Italy but has created most of his performances in Avignon,