The creator of one of the most successful and popular clown entreprise in the world and the very popular play "Snow Symphony" on American Broadway was repeatedly included in the Forbes magazine rating as a highly paid representative of Russian show business. Vyacheslav Polunin is probably the most charming member of this list. Now he lives in the suburbs of Paris, in a large house, which is noisy, like in a circus tent.
Early years
Vyacheslav Polunin was born on June 12, 1950 in the Oryol region, in the small village of Novosil. Parents - Ivan Pavlovich and Maria Nikolaevna - were trade workers. As a child, Vyacheslav read a lot and constantly invented something. I never bought games, I did everything with my own hands according to the plots of the books I read. For his creative activity, he received many school certificates and awards.
When he was ten years old, he became interested in what is now considered a land art form of art. Built ineight-story huts in the nearby forest, in winter - entire cities made of snow. And once he made a huge three-meter slingshot, on which rubber from motorcycle cameras and a leather hat went. From it, Slava shot a large carrot or a piece of brick. The shell flew far, across the entire field.
Vyacheslav Polunin says that he was lucky with the teacher Nina Mikhailovna in the House of Pioneers, who gave children complete freedom of creativity and helped them develop. He spent all his free evenings there. Children organized KVN, evenings of rest, every weekend local residents came to the House of Pioneers, because interesting impressions awaited them there.
I want to be a clown
As a child, he was very fond of comedies. The local cinema was opposite the school. The huge barn in which the movies were shown had a window on the side. Vyacheslav Polunin, since there was no money, asked some person who had a ticket to move the curtain a little. Through this crack, the boy watched many films, including cult Soviet films: "Jolly Fellows", "Ivan Brovkin in Virgin Lands" and "Pitkin's Adventures in the Hospital".
He especially liked comedies, which he simply "absorbed". Then the boy retold them, portrayed the characters of the film in their faces, explained the plot and showed what and how the characters did. But most of all, Vyacheslav Polunin was struck by Charlie Chaplin, whose film "The Kid" considers the best picture of all times and peoples. However, the decisive factor in choosing a profession and even a way of life wasMarcel Marceau. Seeing the great mime on TV, a few days later he portrayed a pantomime in the yard. Then he got on the school stage, then played in various productions of a local scale, and so he got to St. Petersburg.
Finding a profession
After graduating from school, Vyacheslav Polunin went to Leningrad to enter the theater school. At the interview, he was told that he did not pronounce 33 letters. Then he thought, if he cannot pronounce, then there is no need, he will do what he likes - pantomime. True, at first he began studying at a technical institute. However, he never became an engineer, he decided to start all over again and entered the Institute of Culture, where he later even taught for some time.
The first success came to Vyacheslav at the All-Union Variety Artists Competition, where he performed a duet with Sasha Skvortsov. The second prize of the competition was presented to them by Arkady Raikin. The comedians had a dozen successful miniatures that were well received by the audience. The duet became famous, but, as Vyacheslav Polunin himself said, although the audience was delighted - a sea of applause, they were forgotten after two days, because the characters were not interesting, did not create their own world and characters.
Explosion of popularity
In 1968, Polunin created the mime theater "Litsedei", which became famous throughout the country. Real success came to him in the form of the clown Asisyai. Vyacheslav Polunin says that there was an "explosion" when he first came out in a yellow short suit with a nose and played a number withphone. After this number was shown on TV, Slava did not pay anywhere else in taxis and restaurants, such a fantastic love overtook this image.
Then there were other numbers: "Sad Canary" ("Blue-Blue-Blue Canary"), "Nizya". Vyacheslav Polunin and the Litsedei group became popular favorites. However, at some point they became crowded within the same team, and Polunin offered to work separately for some time.
Cirque du Soleil
In 1982, Vyacheslav Polunin organizes a mime parade in Leningrad, which brought together about 800 pantomime artists. In 1987, he held the All-Union Festival of Street Theaters, and in 1989 - a caravan of street comedians, from which the European traditional festival of street theaters "Caravan of the World" began. Wandering artists traveled half of Europe with concerts. Together with Rolan Bykov, Polunin initiated the organization "Academy of Fools".
When the difficult years of perestroika began, Polunin began to think where to wait out these difficult times. He always dreamed of working in a circus, and so he called the best of them - Cirque du Soleil. Of course, he had been known there for a long time and they were very happy that Asisyai wanted to work for them. So he flew to Montreal, but after a year he was bored. The famous team worked like a machine: everything according to the script, no improvisation.
Yellow Windmill
When he was released from the circus, he decided to work in London. I called the director of the Hackney Empire Theater (where Charlie Chaplin's career began) and asked to be hosted for a year with his performance. He was given a stage for 40 performances a year. The Living Rainbow performances were a huge success. For this show, Vyacheslav Polunin was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of London" by the Queen of England.
Then there was New York, where Polunin gave a thousand performances in Union Square. For nine months he tried to sign a contract with the producers, but he was not satisfied with the tough conditions. And then, together with his Australian colleagues, he simply rented the "Union Square Theatre", in the basement of which they made a Russian club. Photos of Vyacheslav Polunin from these performances adorned many city newspapers.
When it came to choose a place of residence, the artist settled on Paris - at that time the producer offered him a contract for three years in this city. The actor said that he would agree: "But then you buy and equip the Mill, and I leave you as a slave for three years." In general, from Vyacheslav Polunin's well-aimed and funny statements, you can make a whole humorous collection.
Since 2013, Polunin worked for several years as the head of the St. Petersburg circus. Now the artist is engaged in new projects, touring a lot around the world.
Personal Information
Vyacheslav Polunin is married to actress Elena Ushakova, who works with him. The couple has three children:
- Ushakov Dmitry - works as technical director of the Polunin Theater;
- Ivan Polunin -also works as an artist in the same theater;
- Pavel Polunin is a musician.
Now Polunin's house is located near Paris, as the head of the family says, he chose the place so that the distance was no more than 30 minutes from the airport and high-speed train, otherwise friends would not be able to call. True, they live there no more than three months a year, they spend the same amount in Russia. Every year they make a two-month tour of Siberia, they definitely visit Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi.
