Slava, the sad Russian clown who makes it snow on stage, is coming to SA

Don't expect laughs and silliness from Vyacheslav Ivanovich "Slava" Polunin's spectacle 'Snowshow'

While there are funny moments, anticipate blasts of mock snow, dark theatre and thoughtful, silent commentary. The Russian performance artist and clown like no other, runs the Academy of Fools in France, an antidote to the seriousness of the world, he calls it.

 He lives in a house which has rooms themed on The Nutcracker and The Arabian Nights, among others. Snowshow arrives in South Africa this week.

Where were you born?

I was born in a small town in Russia, in a family that had never come close to art or show business. As a child I watched The Kid by Charlie Chaplin and it impressed me greatly. I made a cane and started to copy Chaplin's walk, which set my classmates and friends laughing.

The idea of my future occupation probably started to form around that time. I believe that I was born a clown, but the conscious desire to be one appeared much later.

Why did you decide to become a clown?

It was not me who discovered that I was to become a clown. One remarkable theatre director and scholar once told me: "You know, you have such a powerful, grotesque manner and you appear so natural that you are not just a mime now, you are a real clown."

How did you start out?

I started out with pantomime.I was really into this mysterious silent art. I loved what I was doing. My stage partner and I used to make the audience roar with laughter.

Then, at the turn of the '80s, my own clown character named Slava (or Assisyai) appeared, and he allowed me to engage with the audience, not only about funny things but also about the sad, the kind and the tender. Clowning is a much broader notion than just a circus genre or a form of entertainment.

Clowning is a point of view, an ability to see things in a way that differs from what people usually see. Maybe it is a special form of dementedness. It is a great pleasure to live and create things in this dimension. Once you start, you cannot stop.

Of course, there are things that sadden life, but I try to see them as lessons one has to learn. It's not difficult to amuse me. I have been through my share of depressions, disappointments and sadness, but the support from my family and the strong belief that I sense the situation correctly, as well as the precise understanding of my purpose in life, have always helped me to overcome this state of mind.

I love happy people. I am so lucky that every night I can see a thousand joyful faces!

When I was a child I dreamt about being a librarian or a woodsman. And those dreams also came true - I have a huge library and I live in the woods.

I am a true book-lover. I have been collecting and savouring books all my life. Monty Python is the zenith of humour - clever, absurd, witty - the kind of humour I love. Fellini is a genius of crafting poetic universes.

This show was conceived in the early '90s. It embraced all my favourite topics and items. In a sense, I had been working on this show for many years, collecting bit by bit until it became a whole.

Many things in the show come from childhood memories, like the image of snow.

From this show, one should expect a journey into childhood. Into your own childhood sparkling with your dreams, into mine, into ours - filled with anticipations and dreams.

A trip into the world of bright colours, true feelings and important small details that one only notices when little. Each person sees his or her own story in the show. This is very important to me.

I love absurd and fantastic reality - that is what made me choose clowning. For me, expression without words is much more organic and natural than using words on stage.

• Slava's Snowshow is on at The Teatro at Montecasino from July 26 to August 14 and at Cape Town's Artscape from August 17 to 28. Tickets from R175. Not recommended for children under eight.