66-Year-Old Urals Couple Becomes Social Media Hit
Vladimir and Marina Inevatkina, both 66, are the most active retirees in Berezovsky. They are raising six grandchildren, perform in a local dance ensemble, and post amusing videos on social media. The couple creates short, humorous sketches about their daily life, amassing millions of views. E1.RU visited these novice bloggers who are quickly gaining popularity to share their story.
Vladimir hails from Mordovia and moved to Berezovsky with his parents as a child. He graduated from the Tchaikovsky Music College there and dedicated his life to art. Now he teaches children to play the accordion.
«I currently work at the Berezovsky Correctional School as a teacher of music, labor, and technology. This city is tied to important milestones in my life: meeting my wife, our wedding, the birth of our children and grandchildren. The city has become my home, even though I was born elsewhere,» says Vladimir.
Marina was born in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), graduated from a chemical technology college, and worked in her field for many years. Eleven years ago, she retired to fully dedicate herself to family and grandchildren: «I take care of the house and household. Children, garden, vegetable patch.»
The couple has been together for 35 years. They met just before New Year«s through mutual friends and celebrated the main holiday together. They got married six months later, and now every anniversary, their large family gathers—three children and six grandchildren. Vladimir and Marina try never to be apart.
«I never thought I would retire; I thought I would keep working. But my father fell ill, and I needed to care for him. I quit, and after some time, he passed away. Then grandchildren were born, and my children told me, »Mom, don«t go to work anywhere, you»ll help us,«» Marina shared.
As Marina admitted, retirement marks a new life, so she decided to take up hobbies—she joined a women«s gymnastics class, a choir, and a dance studio. The last one captivated her so much that she has been passionate about it for 10 years. Now the couple attends dance rehearsals together and wins various competitions.
«We practice at the Mikhail Nikolaevich Balanchuk Club for Dance Enthusiasts. There are people aged 60-70 there, and we perform without any choreographic training. We win prizes at all-Russian and international competitions.»
Thanks to their grandchildren, they stay in tune with youth. Vladimir and Marina have always been active social media users but didn«t post much. However, seeing bloggers» success, they thought: «Why not start ourselves?» They posted their first videos in October.
«We have a lot to talk about: our creative collective and our big family! Moreover, a new endeavor is always very useful at our age. We have very good support—our children and grandchildren, who understand this. Over time, we plan to learn more, but we shoot the simplest videos ourselves,» says Marina.
The retirees admitted that this shared project has captivated the whole family. They didn«t expect such a response from strangers.
«Total reach—16 million views, and together we have 11,000 subscribers. We are still in shock. The children I teach were simply surprised: how did Vladimir Anatolyevich become a blogger, our elderly music and labor teacher become a blogger? They always admire and ask, »When are you shooting your next video?«» says Vladimir.
Despite Berezovsky being a small town, the novice bloggers aren«t recognized on the street yet. But on social media, they already have an army of fans from all corners of Russia.
«There are many positive comments. At first, we replied to them, but now it»s physically impossible. We have wonderful subscribers, and the comments are simply wonderful. We have no negativity,« says Marina.
One of the first videos Vladimir and Marina made was the flash mob «Dance Like Gazmanov.» Everyone from young to old repeated the lively moves. The trend«s creator, Oleg Gazmanov, added this energetic video to his page. That»s when the Urals residents realized—they could confidently continue!
The family comes up with some scenarios themselves, while other ideas are taken from the internet. Even in humorous videos, Vladimir and Marina embed family values. Their goal is to be an example for the new generation.
«We shoot videos that transport us into life situations. Perhaps they will help someone. I remember how my husband and I went shopping when we were young and would start getting nervous or arguing there. Maybe our videos will be useful for young people to avoid conflicts. Nowadays, marriages break up very often. We see that sometimes subscribers write to us: »Oh, I want a relationship like yours,«» says Marina.
The main thing in the lives of these Urals residents is their family. And to live happily together, not much is needed: love, respect, and patience.
«Volodya and I had mutual understanding from the start. We never had division; we always did everything together: building the house, preserving food together, working in the garden,» shares Marina the secret of strong relationships. «Nowadays, youth has become impatient: some situations need to be let go to avoid conflicts. One should take less offense and be able to forgive. The main things are kindness and love.»
Be sure to read the story of 67-year-old Lyudmila Krasnoperova, who became Yekaterinburg«s rap mom. A saleswoman from the Novomoskovsky market gained fame long ago thanks to her online videos: she posts dozens of videos a day to modern tracks.
We also wrote about how a guy from Yekaterinburg became a star after a video in a women«s wig. At the peak of his popularity, he managed to move to Moscow.
* The social network is banned in the Russian Federation.
