Russian women are remarkable for their gifts. In the World History of Arts are described the names of Russian ballet dancers - Anna Pavlova, Maya Plisetskaya, opera singers - Elena Obrztsova, Galina Vishnevskaya, Irina Arkhipova, the primadonna of the Russian pop-art Alla Pugachova, poets Marina Tsvetayeva, Anna Akhmatova. This list could be extended.
Introducing a child to the world of arts is an integral part of education in Russia. Even if the girl's aptitudes are not outstanding, it is a Russian tradition to have her take a course in some arts, at least at the basic level: there are music and arts schools, courses, societies in big cities and small towns. Thus, even a remote provincial town can provide a girl with an opportunity to study classical, folk and ballet dancing, playing different folk instruments, the violin and the piano, vocal singing and singing in a choir. At the age of four children may start attending schools of general esthetical education and have classes in music, drawing, rhythmics. Naturally, not all girls will become professional artists, singers, ballet dancers or musicians, but the Russian woman keeps her interest for erudition in arts for the rest of her life.
Russian women not only create art but also spread it and even save it for the generations to come. You will see it yourself if you pay a visit to any museum, art gallery, library in any Russian town. What would you think, who works there? You're quite right, of course, women. They've selflessly devoted their lives to serving art, in bitterly cold halls that need repairs badly, for pitiful salaries. You would wonder, who drives them? Firstly, their love for the art. Secondly, their genuine desire to stand out against primitive man whose aim of life was confined to producing the creatures of the kind and struggle for food. It is art alone that can provide the spiritual resurrection of the nation.
Aesthetic tastes the modern Russian woman are wide ranging. They depend on a series of factors: a woman's social status, her education, upbringing, family traditions, her location (the capital - a regional centre - the county), her personality, temperament, mood. Tastes, i.e. musical. Artistic, theatrical, differ. Some will listen to nothing but folk choir, others - to symphony orchestra, the third - to rock groups, the fourth - to pop groups. Or still better, one day a woman listens to Bach's fugues, another - she is picking up the tune of a pop song of Alla Pugachova.
Thus, we may say that Russian woman is a very bright type, though she is not always keen on "serving to muses". You can nevertheless count on her exquisite aesthetic feelings and knowledge of the world art.
