On the 9th and 10th of December, Albina Matuzko and Sue Morrison, in collaboration with Imbali Center for Creative Movement, presented Baba-Yaga, a very unusual clown performance at the John Larmonie Center. The Ukrainian born Albina Matuzko, now established in St. Maarten, surprised the public with a type of performance quite unknown on our Caribbean island: Here came the clown, but not the one you would expect: No slapstick, no cream cake in the face: Albina's clown looks deep into the human soul, that's why the philosophical content of Baba-Yaga makes the performance more appropriate for adults than for children.
Baba-Yaga is a Slavic mythological character, a mad and angry figure hiding in the woods, used to frighten children. In her play, Albina is a girl who sympathizes with the figure of Baba-Yaga, and ends up discovering that Baba-Yaga's most crazy personality is actually living deep into herself.
During an hour, Albina takes us through her feelings, her fears, her need of love and her deep, sincere and honest humanity. While she talks, - not too much, just enough to support her acting skills - we discover human fears and desires, philosophical questions in the soul of an innocent being. Everyone in the public connects with the actor, since all of us have gone through some of this experiences. And so, the clown makes the public laugh, but very often you want to cry at the same time. Albina shows us the most beautiful and vulnerable sides of human nature.
Baba-Yaga is a modern performance, very different from the traditional theater production most of the people are used to. Albina Matuzko presented Baba-Yaga first at the Vienna International Women's Clown Festival in 2010, and has since performed in many countries of the world. The production is directed by the Canadian expert of modern clown shows, Sue Morrison. Albina interacts with the public, who is lying or sitting on a sheet and pillow covered floor. The audience feels very much like at home, and this creates an amazing feeling of intimacy between the actor, the public and the character the actor represents.
Imbali being a Center for Creative Movement, the director of the center, Clara Reyes didn't miss a chance to introduce a new creative art style to St. Martin.
Baba-Yaga is a deep, poetical and emotive production, beautifully staged by Albina Matuzko, and we hope that it will be repeated often for the public in St. Martin.
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