Last Saturday, the Dom Cultural Center hosted a special event celebrating the Slavic holiday Ivan Kupala Night – a night that, in keeping with the day’s origins in pre-Christian sex-worship – it dedicated expressly to the erotic.

The holiday – known as the Day of John the Baptist in English-speaking countries, where it has a reputation about as far from that of its Russian counterpart as you can get (that is, if people even know that it exists at all) – was originally a pre-Christian celebration of fertility in honor of the goddess Kupala. In keeping with the fine pagan tradition, the event was announced under the title of "Ivan Kupala Night: or, the Sin of Group Sex."

The cultural center did manage to whip up a fine bachannal, but for better or worse no group sex was to be had. There was certainly skin enough, however, in the form of the stripper Natasha, of Rasputin fame, who in the second half of the show entertained the audience with an interactive erotic dance. (The fellow who tried to slip his hand up my friend’s pants’ leg should also be mentioned.)

Actually, it was more than anything else an excuse for a wild reenactment of the traditional festival in a contemporary setting. The crowd, mostly on the artsy, bohemian side – as befits a party thrown at the Dom Cultural Center – kicked up their heels on the straw-strewn floor, drank spicy (and potent) samogon out of a can, and relaxed enjoying the music.

This consisted of traditional Russian songs and dancing by the folk group Perevit and Irish bagpiping by Vladimir Laserson, which stood in sharp but enjoyable contrast to the bass-driven rock/jazz of Mrakobesy that ended the first half of the festivities and the highly eclectic and international dance tunes spun by DJ Glukhov during the intermissions. Additional music was provided by saxophonist Eduard Sivkov and the band German Vinogradov and Co.

A traditional Ivan Kupala Night event is the requisite bonfire leap. Clearing the flames is, according to legend, supposed to provide protection from the evil forces that, in the holiday’s Christian version, emerge from the darkness to tempt God-fearing people into acts of the grossest perversion. As the Center was not about to break with such a tradition, partygoers were invited to secure their souls against such nefarious threats from the netherworld by means of a quick leap over an admittedly not-very-blazing bonfire.

Add to this mix the decor, which was designed to reproduce the feel of an old pagan festival, the crowd in attendance – by the looks of it art students, musicians and artists of various stripes – and the very inexpensive beer (20 or 30 rubles a glass) and what you got was a rousing night that would occupy a high place on anybody’s list of events to be remembered.

In keeping with the fine pagan tradition, the event was announced under the title of ‘Ivan Kupala Night: or, the Sin of Group Sex.’