If you happened to be walking on campus around 4:45 p.m. this past Monday, you might have seen a group of balaclava clad, rainbow-bright students performing movement scores and reading statements in Russian and English. This act of solidarity with the Russian female punk group, Pussy Riot, marked the one month anniversary of their conviction. The display showed Macalester students’ interest in the group’s protest spirit and backlash against the band’s recent conviction.

Three members of the band Pussy Riot were convicted in August for singing a “punk prayer” in the Cathedral of Christ, a prominent Moscow cathedral, this past February. The political protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin was labeled by Russian authorities as “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility,” because it took place in a religious institution, though its message was undeniably anti-Putin.

“You cannot objectify them,” Russian professor Julia Chadaga said of the female punk group and their balaclavas. She is impressed by the women’s ability to stand up to Russian institutions, namely Putin’s government.“That was pretty troubling within their patriarchal culture.”

Many, including Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, feel that the two-year prison sentence of hard labor exceeds the severity of the demonstration. Protests have taken place in cities around the world since the trial and Monday’s performance brought this solidarity to Macalester in its artistic incarnation. Members of the group held up a sign that said “FREE PUSSY RIOT,” while others assumed the voices of all three convicted Pussy Riot members and read their statements.

The performers brought a variety of experience, or inexperience, to the event. Each student created his or her own movement scores that referenced sexual, punk rock, religious, and Russian historical imagery. The production occurred after only an hour of practice so some of the speaking parts were a bit uncoordinated. Students and professors had different reasons for participating, yet the end result was that the spirit of the demonstration felt organic and honest.

“As a Russian-American, I thought I would further the cause,” said Nikita Avdievitch ’13. He decided to participate in the performance in order to raise awareness about Pussy Riot after being surprised by how many people at Macalester did not know about the recent Russian and international news. The performance was sponsored by the Russian studies and Theater and Dance departments.

“We are always looking for ways not do our work in a box,” said Beth Cleary, Theatre and Dance professor and department chair, who helped coordinate the performance along with Chadaga and Lara Nielsen from Theater and Dance and Latin American Studies.