[News Figures] The Godfather of Clown Art 'Slava Polunin'

Captivated by Mime at 17... Expressing Joy and Sorrow as a Clown
Performances Scheduled in Daegu and Ulsan Following LG Arts Center
From London's West End to New York's Broadway

Slava Polunin's 'Snowshow' is meeting audiences in Korea for the first time in 8 years since 2015. Among viewers, it is being praised as a "blizzard of happiness sweeping through May." Premiered in Russia in 1993, this performance has toured over 100 cities worldwide for more than 30 years, attracting over one million spectators. It has also made its way to the UK West End and the US Broadway.

'Snowshow' is a performance created by Slava Polunin (73), who is regarded as a legendary clown alongside Charlie Chaplin and Marcel Marceau. Born in Russia in June 1950, he became fascinated with mime at the age of 17 and began learning clown theater.

At that time, Slava's parents wanted him to become an engineer, but he dropped out of school and devoted himself to "silent theater (無言劇)." Later, starting his acting with pantomime, Slava was captivated by "silent art" and studied various movements, including tango and even analyzing how Disney cartoon characters strike specific poses.

Photos from Slava Polunin's 'Snowshow' performance. Photo by LG Arts Center Seoul

In 1979, Slava founded the theater troupe "Litsedei" to revive the tradition of clown art, pioneering a new genre of clown art that combined mime with theatrical performances. His kind of "theatrical mime" delivered emotions beyond verbal expression, offering audiences a moving experience, and Slava established himself as a world-renowned clown artist.

Then, in 1980, on the television show "The Blue Flame," he introduced his researched character, the yellow clown "ASISSAI." "ASISSAI" was the first clown to address themes of love, loneliness, longing, happiness, loss, and sadness. Viewers empathized with "ASISSAI," and the show ended successfully. Each clown had a unique character, and even when appearing in different forms, any audience member could easily recognize them, allowing performances with rich stories rather than one-off clown acts.

This later became the foundation for 'Snowshow' to develop into distinct clown characters and pioneer a new genre of clown art. The 'Snowshow' performance features eight clowns who, without dialogue, unfold short episodes capturing the joys and sorrows of life. Props, music, and lighting harmonize to immerse the audience in the stories on stage. The main theme is "snow," with snow piled up in every corner of the audience seats. The highlight is the scene where the snow fluttering on stage during the performance turns into a massive blizzard that sweeps into the audience. The domestic tour, which began on April 30, will be held sequentially at LG Arts Center Seoul (May 10?21), Daegu Suseong Artpia (May 24?27), and Ulsan Hyundai Arts Center (May 31?June 3).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.