It amounted to much more than just the Olde Worlde meeting the New World this past weekend at the Cleveland Public Theatre. You could say it was a triplicate of Olde, New and Otherworldly all interwoven into one. Ukrainian-born singer/actress Mariana Sadovska, 32, now of Cologne, Germany, gave a spine-tingling 70-minute performance of traditional Ukraine/Slovak folk songs with modern twists and turns and unique vocalisations. Did it live up to Nadia Tarnawsky's introductory phrase that "this performance will be unparalleled?" Absolutely. A small crowd of perhaps twenty gathered to watch and hear this multilingual performer who occasionally stopped for a breather to recite snippets and stories from her native homeland; accompanying her tunes was a large wooden Indian harmonium. Sadovska sings in the eastern European tradition of "open throat;" phrases and intonations performed in this manner sound especially plaintive and their repetitive nature mimics the trials and sufferings of life in poor beleaguered countries. The majority of songs were of the minor key--very sad, almost heart-wrenching. One can indeed tell that Sadovska has interviewed and recorded the songs and stories of untold old Ukrainian women. Can it be too farfetched to say that at times it looked like she was possessed by their collective spirits? One mad and brilliant moment was when she performed a song about birds "because birds very often bridge this world here to the next world." The cooing, clucking, cawing noises that went up and down her vocal range literally brought forth goosebumps. The conclusion of the bird song had some audience members shaking their heads in disbelief. But the "bird song" was topped by a song "Kopala nic," that was explained beforehand with the simple statement "Every woman has the potential to be a witch." It was wonderful, wacky, weird...her facial expressions, vocal range, timbre, expression could all change minute to minute as if different persons answering one another. Sadovska also incorporated the sound of women crying, gasping, sobbing in disblief...an occasional English phrase broke through to quickly sing what is being felt at the moment. In town that weekend to celebrate her mother's tenth anniversary in Ukrainian radio in Cleveland (her mother lives in Parma Heights), Sadovska was persuaded to give a Cleveland performance by Nadia Tarnowsky. The acoustics were good in the renovated Orthodox chapel located just to the right of CPT. Parking was ample and safe.
from Cool Cleveland reader Ginny Parobek slovakgirl5@yahoo.com (:divend:)