Students of HSE University-Perm Perform at 31st Russian Student Spring Festival
Members of the KNIVE vocal ensemble and the HSE Crew dance studio represented HSE University at the opening ceremony and the festival town, while students Polina Subbotina and Yulia Mukharamova were included in the Perm Krai delegation that won the festival’s main prize in the team scoring.
More than 3,500 participants from 82 regions of Russia came to Perm to participate in the finals of Russian Student Spring. The delegation from Perm Krai included 118 students, including Polina Subbotina and Yulia Mukharamova from HSE University in Perm.
From May 27 to May 30, the square in front of the Perm Academic Theatre hosted a festival town with various activities: lectures, quizzes, performances, concerts, and more. Students of the KNIVE vocal ensemble and the HSE Crew dance group from the university’s Perm campus took part in the festival town programme. The head of the HSE Crew studio, Polina Kuzmina, held a workshop on stretching. Following the festival results, the Perm team won the grand prize.
Polina Subbotina, head of the KNIVE vocal ensemble, HSE University in Perm, member of the Perm Krai delegation at Russian Student Spring
Russian Student Spring 2023 was special to all students of Perm Krai, as it took place in their native territory. It is both interesting and difficult at the same time. The members of my ensemble performed at the festival’s opening ceremony in the student choir, and I personally sang there with the headliners on the city’s main stage and as an opening act for famous artists.
Polina Kuzmina, head of the HSE Crew dance company, HSE University in Perm
May is an extremely emotionally charged month. I am very glad that I returned to dancing, performed at the opening of Russian Student Spring together with talented people, and went through all the difficulties with HSE Crew. The audience got to watch a beautiful opening ceremony and we got to see it behind the scenes. I appreciate the behind-the-scenes parts of any event even more, because for participants, the process is more valuable than the result. It is always memorable, it is more interesting, and it is broader.
Our preparations lasted three weeks, and involved daily rehearsals for several hours (including in the scorching sun and thirty-degree heat), choreography changes, and efforts to dance immaculately. The muscles all over our bodies did not have time to recover, and it was extremely difficult to even walk, let alone dance. However, all of this was worth the feelings you get when students from all over the country are watching you. I want to express my deep gratitude to my team—we couldn’t have done it without each other!