Current News

We take great pride in announcing that the Works of Art of the late Feodor Denisovich Konstantinov (1910-1997), People's Artist of Russia, the husband of Tatiana Georgievna Birukova-Konstantinova and father of Tatiana Feodorovna Konstantinova ("Tanya") are being exhibited beginning 4:00 PM Friday, March 19, 2010 at the Museum of the city of Zaraisk, Russia in honor of the 100th Anniversary of his birth. This exhibition has been planned for several years and we will make further information available about the exhibition including its length as soon as we obtain it. F.D. Konstantinov was one of the very greatest Graphic Artists of the former Soviet Union and of Russia in the 20th Century. We urge anyone who can to visit Zaraisk and its Museum. Bob Hoffman has been to Zaraisk a number of times and he plans to attend the exhibition during his next trip to Russia now scheduled for May 2010. For your information, Zaraisk is about 2 1/2 hours by car or bus from Moscow. As you can see, Robert G. Hoffman Productions has many artistic sides and in many varied directions and is proud to count among its participants Tatiana Birukova as a "Principal Colleague" and Tanya Konstantinova as a Principal Artistic Advisor of the "Artistic Team."

We are also pleased to let you know that the memorable and historic DVD of the World Premiere of the ballet Pater Olympian is finally available and is now being offered for sale on this website. The same availability holds true in regard to the Blue Book, considered to be a "Unique and Historical Piece of Art" in itself. For a complete understanding of what the Blue Book is, please read the Article about the Blue Book and its accompanying 3-page Letter by clicking on the related menu button. You can be directed to the purchasing pages for the DVD and the Blue Book directly from the Home Page or from various related Menus. Unfortunately, and as we previously had informed you, at the start we can only offer the DVD and Blue Book for delivery to locations within the United States. We are presently working on the most efficient methods to ship to Russia - and beginning with the City of Moscow. We expect this will take at least 30 days to put in place.

And we are pleased to inform you that the Photos and Biographies of Ms. Eurydice Kelley and Ms. Julie Petry have been posted in "Artistic Team." We suggest you take a look at these most recent and valuable additions to the United States Members of our Artistic Team.

Referring to the possible Documentary on the life of Bob Hoffman proposed by Olga Pshenitsyna, the meeting of the attorney from Baker & McKenzie and Olga did take place some time ago. From the report of their meeting it seemed everything was in order to continue the process pending further meetings to be held between Bob and Olga during Bob's planned close to 3-week trip to Moscow in November. Bob and Olga did meet three times during his trip to Moscow, at times with members of the Artistic Team present - even reviewing possible "Content" from DVDs for a Documentary. Unfortunately, in the third of those three meetings (attended by Bob, Olga and Elena Roudneva), Olga indicated that due to an evolving situation at the Television Channel, consideration of a Documentary had to be suspended until further notice. However, all earlier reports about the possible Documentary will remain in "Current News" until the situation becomes completely clarified.

There are those that believe that aside from the "Content" of Bob's life being suitable for a Documentary, there could be a place for a full-length Movie in some form. For all options to be open, Bob has decided that creating the Sequel to Pater Olympian should become the top priority of Upcoming Projects. Therefore after the work on the DVD and the Blue Book (described in the final paragraph below) will have been completed in early 2010, creating the Sequel to Pater Olympian is to be the top priority of Robert G. Hoffman Productions. This has been discussed with all the members of the Russian Artistic Team (and with the Principal Dancers of the December 2002 Premiere of Pater Olympian) during Bob's trip to Moscow in November and also more recently with the newest Members of the Artistic Team in the United States...Julie Petry in the State of Pennsylvania and Eurydice Kelley in New York City.

Tatiana Birukova-Konstantinova (a Principal Colleague) and her daughter Tanya Konstantinova (Artistic Team) have requested Bob to attend the exhibitions and celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the birthdate of the artist Feodor Denisovich Konstantinov (1910-1997), People's Artist of Russia - their late husband and father, respectively. These exhibitions are being planned to take place in Zaraisk, Russia in March or April 2010 and will consist principally of his works in Graphic Art. This information will be updated in due course.

The above paragraph indirectly leads us to our own "Konstantinov Art Project" - an "Upcoming Project" that has been delayed for a long time. In recent months Tanya has been given the responsibility by Tatiana to deal with Bob Hoffman in regard to this Project. At present Tanya is awaiting information from Bob. Once this Project will be underway, it is expected that Jennifer MacDonald (member of the Artistic Team in Boston, Massachusetts) will be Bob's principal advisor in the United States in regard to this Art Project.

Tanya Konstantinova is also planning an exhibition of her own personal extensive Photography Portfolio. This is expected to take place in Moscow sometime in the upcoming months. This information will be updated in due course.

Bob's trip to Moscow in November could be said to have been somewhat disappointing because of the results in regard to the Documentary. Nevertheless, the trip was very rewarding and any such disappointment was more than offset in that the entire Moscow Artistic Team got together and (among other things) carefully and constructively reviewed the version of the DVD of the Premiere of Pater Olympian available at that time - with Olga Pshenitsyna also present and contributing - and made many suggestions for important revisions. And of course, it was great to have the Team's talented classical ballet dancer and dance advisor Dasha Lyakisheva (who had recently returned from her constant traveling with her Ballet Company) also present to join in these discussions as well as socially at the Team's late dinner.

Finally, we are pleased to report that the editing work on the DVD of the December 6, 2002 World Premiere of Pater Olympian is finally near completion. The DVD is expected to be available for sale by the end of January 2010 - but at first only in the United States. We also expect to have the Blue Book available for sale in the United States shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, because certain further steps must be taken to have the DVD and the Blue Book available for sale in Russia, such further steps will likely require an additional 60 days beyond the above dates.

 

November 29, 2009

E-mail letter sent November 29, 2009 by Bob Hoffman primarily to the many Russian individuals on his e-mail address list, as follows:

Dear Everyone,

Please accept my sincerest feelings of sympathy for the families and friends of those killed and injured by the terrible terrorist attack on the “Nevsky” train that was on its way from Moscow to St. Petersburg this past Friday night.

This is but another horrible example of the useless attempts by those who wish to bring down people of good will – I say “useless” because they will ultimately fail.

I have great faith in the Russian people – as I do in the American people – to overcome this attack as both peoples have done previously on so many occasions. Many of you will recall that I arrived in Moscow on the morning of September 11, 2001. I saw then how the Russian people showed their feelings of deep sympathy for me and the American people at that terrible moment. That day became for me a turning point in that it geometrically multiplied the feelings of fondness I already felt for the Russian people. Many of you know that story from 2001 – others of you have learned about it as it was expressed in an Article in my recently released Website.

You know I’ve been working for years trying to bring the people of Russia and America closer together. I feel sure this has happened and hopefully will continue to happen. And as I’ve said a number of times before, we must not fail in this most important endeavor because the entire world depends on its success.

We should pray and work so that it shall come to pass.

Very sincerely yours,

Bob Hoffman

 

October 7, 2009

The Moscow members of the “Artistic Team” celebrated the official September 17, 2009 Launch of this Website by enjoying the fabulous multi-hour Sunday Brunch on September 20, 2009 with live music given by the Marriott Grand Hotel in Moscow. Attending were Helen Rudneva, Tanya Konstantinova, Katya Miyalnaya and Dasha Lyakisheva, and by special invitation Tatiana Birukova-Konstantinova. Bob made himself “present” for part of the celebration by means of his “interrupting” mobile phone call to the group’s table. Tanya has photos of the celebration which she intends to provide soon. Dasha had just returned a few days earlier from a long Tour of her Ballet Company in Greece and other countries – a Tour in which she danced the Principal Role in Swan Lake and in other ballets as well. Congratulations to Dasha!!

Congratulations also go out to Jennifer MacDonald of the “Artistic Team” for the “umpteenth” trip she is presently making from her home in Boston, Massachusetts to her beloved Buenos Aires in Argentina to once again actively renew and update her performing expertise in the challenging Tango.

Now as to the Documentary - continuing on from August 29, 2009, the first meeting between Bob’s attorney and Olga Pshenitsyna did take place. Because the television channel’s season is September through May, budget decisions in regard to each season have to be approved not later than the July 1 preceding September. Since it was already mid-June 2009 when Bob and Olga first met in Moscow to discuss issues in regard to a Documentary there was no practical opportunity for timely decisions to be made by any of the parties. Therefore it was decided that preparations would begin currently as if a budgetary decision for a Documentary would be approved for the September 2010 to May 2011 season.

Bob decided to work with the Video Production Studio division of a Corporate Communications Company in New York to begin to develop “Content.” The Studio has state-of-the-art equipment and an expert Video Editor who is among other things artistically inclined. In addition, the head of the Corporate Communications Company acts as a consultant to Bob in creating the Content. As you can see from “Our Organization” the head of the Internet Marketing Company also acts as a consultant to Bob. Following the successful launch of this website on September 17, Bob has made new arrangements with the head of the Internet Marketing Company to continue his consultations going forward.

In recent weeks Bob has been working “hands-on” with the Video Editor with video materials Bob has collected over many years in regard to the development and production of Pater Olympian. These are mainly from three points in time: 1992 in Boston, Massachusetts; 1995 in Tucson, Arizona; and of course 2002 in Moscow, Russia. The 1992 and 1995 videos were essentially of workshop or otherwise private presentations of much earlier and different versions of the ballet’s choreography, whereas in 2002 it was of the World Premiere performance on December 6, 2002. Bob and the Video Editor are currently in the process of protecting, modernizing, improving the quality of, editing and converting the VHS formats of 1992 and 1995 as well as the Betacam format of 2002 - all into 2009 state-of-the-art DVD format. Bob expects to take preliminary DVDs of the Premiere and the other two presentations with him on his next trip to Moscow scheduled to begin November 1.  It’s clear that the “Artistic Team” in Moscow will have a lot of work to do both during Bob’s trip and surely after his return to New York November 21.

The above is only the beginning of collecting of Content on Bob’s entire life. The work will continue on and it is interesting to note that the Content that is and will continue to be collected parallels the type of Content that would be used to publish a Book as well. More on this will follow in due course.

 

August 29, 2009

In June 2009 in Moscow, Ms. Olga Pshenitsyna, a Television Journalist living and working in Moscow approached Bob Hoffman with the idea of having a Documentary on his entire life produced by a Russian television studio. Helen Rudneva, Bob’s principal colleague in Russia had originally introduced Ms. Pshenitsyna to Bob in Moscow in 2002 during the planning process of the staging of Pater Olympian.

On occasion from 2003 to 2009 Olga spent time on a social basis with Bob, Helen and other members of the Pater Olympian Moscow Group. She also occasionally did professional photography for the Group.

Olga frequently visits the United States for professional reasons in her field. Her most recent visit took place in April 2009 in which she traveled to the State of Colorado. On her way back to Moscow she stopped in New York and visited Bob and his wife Linda briefly in their home. Olga had met Linda once before - in September 2008 at the Pater Olympian 3rd Reunion Reception in Moscow - see “Photos” for Olga’s photo at that Reception. While visiting Bob at his home in New York Olga briefly mentioned she wanted to meet with him on his next trip to Moscow to discuss a new project…a Documentary.

In June 2009, Olga and Bob met for a few hours in his Moscow hotel suite. Accompanying them was Katya Miyalnaya, a current member of the “Artistic Team.” Unfortunately Helen was not able to attend the meeting. Olga made a serious proposal to Bob that he give her authorization to discuss with Russian television studios the idea of producing a Documentary on his life. Olga informed Bob it would not be limited to his ballet activities which began in 1985 in the United States or beginning in 2000 in Russia, but rather it would cover his entire life. It would be a human interest story about the “transformation” of Bob Hoffman an American professional man who had a long and successful career in finance and accounting in the United States but who had virtually no artistic or theatrical background whatsoever - who nevertheless underwent a process of transformation beginning in the United States and continuing on at a rather advanced age in Russia until he became a person of the Arts – by producing and staging Pater Olympian which he wrote back in 1985/1986 - bringing Russian and American dancers together on stage in a prominent Theatre in Theatre Square in the very center of Moscow…doing it entirely from his Moscow 2-room hotel suite with assistance of a small consulting group of Russian colleagues.

Bob has authorized Olga to begin the process and Bob has given the assignment to the prominent Moscow law firm Baker & McKenzie CIS Limited (on behalf of Robert G. Hoffman Productions) to negotiate the conditions with Olga and with any television studios to which they may be referred.

At the present time, Bob is awaiting further word from these initial discussions.