My friend Marina arranged to secure tickets to SLAVA'S SNOWSHOW – messa in scena di Slava Polunin at Teatro Verdi for a bunch of our artist friends here in Firenze. She promoted the show as “Russian mime” knowing that I “have a thing” for all things Russian or Ukrainian (especially the language and vodka!). The Teatro Verdi pubblicità states that “Slava Polunin è considerato ‘il miglior clown del mondo.’” (Slave Polunin is considered the best clown in the world.) Even artist Jered teased me, “You are willing to pay to see a mime?” Apparently so.
But the show was not anything I had expected (no white faces or a man trying to find his way out of a box). It was truly wonderful and fun and human. Marina told me that I would be happy with the expressiveness of the performers. And for me, another charmer was hearing the children’s laughing voices in the audience mixed with the grownups, even though the show began at 20:45.
Teatro Verdi is a beautiful theatre and very close to where I live in Florence, Italy. I saw the “Gala Nureyev” there last year. These Slavic performers last night were not only expressive and the music perfect, but there was a lot of interaction with the audience. At one point, a giant blanket of spider webs was passed over the entire floor of the theatre as members of the audience helped to propel the huge fabric over our heads towards the back of the theatre. Confetti was everywhere and the air festive. We all had great fun.
The images from my camera that I post here were taken by me, except for the one that our friend Richard took of Lisa and me before the performance began. Perhaps you can have some idea of the energy inside Teatro Verdi. At the end of the performances, giant balloons were released into the air space in the crowds. For a moment of was reminded of the TV show “The Prisoner” (“I am NOT a number!”), except that these giant spheres were of many colors and in greater quantity. Later smaller, but still large spheres were also bouncing around as children and adults alike tried to pat them and keep the motions going. And, of course, it rained confetti. Fantastic!
http://www.teatroverdifirenze.it
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