An enchanting bubble show entertained visitors at the Sharjah International Book Fair.The performance brought to the fair by Saltimbanco Italiano featured Italian-Canadian bubbles artist Silvia Gaffurini whose charm and creativity mesmerized the audience during her “Bubbles Emotions show”. Gaffurini’s perfect technique, inspired by nature, demonstrated her complete control over the bubbles. In her hands the bubbles seemed almost malleable as she layered them, filled them with smoke and bounced them off one another, leaving the audience with an unforgettable experience. “I started falling in love with bubbles when I was a child, then later on life I met the great Vietnamese bubbles artist Fan Yang. I went to Canada to his school where I learnt his technique and the secrets of working with bubbles,” she said, adding that though it is simply soap and water there are many tricks when it comes to technique.Yang, the producer of the Gazillion Bubble Show and who holds 11 world records in the field of bubbles, collaborated with Gaffurini and helped her produce her own show Bubbles Emotions.“I was lucky to work all over the world, Europe, Canada – which is the base of the Gazillion bubble show, Australia, Las Vegas in the US, China and Dubai. This is my second time back in the UAE,” she said.
During her show, Gaffurini uses humor and interactivity as key ingredients. Children are invited on stage to share the magical world of bubbles. She says that her show touches the emotional side of people because it takes them back to their childhood. “I thought about why people love bubbles and I think that the bubble is a beautiful object. It's a bit magical because it is created out of breath. It is also colorful but it's also untouchable. Everyone wants to touch it and play with it but then it just disappears. For the human soul, things that can't be touched are things that we love even more,” she explained. Her performance included bubble representations of the planets, rainbows and a volcano. “Nature gives us so many beautiful things that we can observe and be inspired by,” she said.
Performing with bubbles comes with some challenges thought, said Gaffurini. “One of them is making the public laugh or getting them emotional. When I see someone smile it gives me great joy because I do this not only for my own personal satisfaction but also to make people happy. I want to make the show memorable for them,” she said. The second aspect is to make sure that the bubbles actually work. “They are very delicate and they suffer a lot from various temperatures and from the wind. It’s as though they are alive. It’s a relationship that involves love and conflict. Sometimes I say: please make this show happen, there are children here who are expecting a good show,” she said laughing.