Once upon a time in a far country

06 January 2010 / 11:01:55 GRReporter

4181 reads

Magical fairy tales not only make children dream, but also help them to overcome their fears and emotions. They identify themselves with the characters of the fairy tales, who always overcome the obstacles and everything has a happy end.

What should, however a contemporary story teller do to capture their attention?

They love the entire series of Harry Poter, who is a young wizard and has a bag of magical spells, a crew of true friends and wins against powerful enemies. Story teller on the other side is real and has the magical power to turn in less then a second into Baba-Yaga or an ugly giant and then in a beauty with long pretty hair or in Santa Clause.

A magician like this is Sasha Boulgare. She is a professional story teller and creates her worlds on a certain places in Athens, one of which is the museum for cycladic art. In the middle of a small hall on the third floor there are chairs arranged in a semi-circle and in front of them are spread cushions for the kids. An improvised stage is formed between them and the opposing glass cases with the antique finds are placed – small containers, little statues and amphoras. There Sasha and Spiros patiently wait for the people to enter and talk to their guests. Spiros is Sasha’s musician and he plays a rear Swiss instrument called “hang”.

About fifty people can gather – children and their parents. Before she begins her performance, Sasha sets the rules: children stay in their places without making any noise and their parents switch off the mobiles. In order for the stories to have a magical effect it has to be quiet.

So the show begins. Spiros starts playing his instrument, which looks like a flying saucer and Sasha gets ready to start her first story coming from Italy. It tells about the magician Befana. Kids know Befana from the songs they listen on TV and are excited that they know the character. Sasha smiles at their comments and sharply says: “It seems you talk a lot. Listen now what happened!” and with a single move she turns into a bent with age woman with a hooked nose who opens the door to the wise men who came to announced the birth of the infant.

Sasha enchants the kids also with the story of Santa Clause, who Greeks call St. Vasilis. Sasha turns into a strict ruler and then in a kind old man. She does it only with the flexible, almost invisible moves of her body and the change in the intonation of her voice. Story tells how St. Vasilis manages to convince the ruler of Kapadokya that the pins, belts and the other trinkets he collected from the people as a tax, have no value to him, but are priceless to the. “This belt has been given once as a gift from the fiancé to his beloved woman and now belongs to their granddaughter. It is her souvenir of their love. Hey this ring was given from mother to daughter for many generations in order for the daughters to remember their moms once they are gone…”

Although kids start to get distracted, Sasha manages to attract their attention. Here comes the story of Tsarina and her evil step-mother who sends her to Baba-Yaga to take a fire. Step mother is hoping that young girl will never return, but in the fairy tales, good characters always win and the evil ones are punished. This exactly what happens. It seems that kids like this story as they break into applauses. As Sasha turns into Baba-Yaga everybody is having fun as she screams and shouts and shows how the old woman flies spinning around in her mortar and sweeps with her broom.

The last story talks about the meeting of the miller and the hobgoblin…When she finishes her last story kids go to Sasha. It is obvious that she won them as their eyes are filled with admiration and they all want her to touch them, as she became their hero. Sasha is a professional story teller since 1993 and as her tools she only has her voice, tongue and breath which keep the body ready and make it “dance”.

Her next performance on January 10^th is called “Pots and pans – appetizers of the Gods and heroes”. In this show she will undertake a journey in the world of Greek, Scandinavian, Indian and American myths and legends with the music accompaniment of spoons, pots, pans and cauldrons. Later in January, Sasha will face the challenge to charm the grown ups in a performance “strictly prohibited for kids”, which, as she says, is dedicated to Eros and his stories.

Where to see Sasha?:

Къде да гледате Саша?:

Sunday, January 10, at 13:00

Chichibos in the soup! (Greek fairy tale)

Who cooks and who eats? (Thessaly)

What’s there in the bottle? (Persia)

Sunday, January 24^th,at 13:00

Ambrosia and nectar (Greek mythology)

Lotuses and the meals of Kirka (Odyssey)

What does Persephona eat? (Greek mythology)

The magic pig (Scandinavian mythology)

White figs – black figs, come table and lay the meal! (Greece)