Victoria Ryabukhina is weaving a special kind of magic
with her new production.
Judging by her appearance, she's in her late 20s or early 30s. But is she really a witch in the bad sense of the word?
Her sympathizers say she was born a magic healer, became a producer by profession, a teacher by title and an actor who believes her dreams are yet to come true.
From her Georgian mother, Victoria said she inherited the gift of extra-perception healing, magic and arts, making her the fifth generation of witches in her family lineage.
When she was a child she started feeling aas though there was a power in her. A warm heart, creative mind and organizational capacity are all in her thanks to her Russian father.
Victoria uses the stage to explain cosmic laws, communicate with the heavenly stars, play a piano and teach her "disciples" how to control bio-energy.
In the past 15 years she has been dealing with para-psychology, and healing during the past seven years.
Using her extra-perception capabilities, Victoria boasts of curing asthma, diabetes, nervous disorders and sterility. But cancer and schizophrenia are the diseases that still challenge her magic skills. She mixes her healing with a very simple method which includes fasting and diet, manual therapy and traditional medicine.
Victoria became well-known in 1991 when she was hired to heal politicians in Moscow. Finnish tycoons noticed her and vowed to promote her in Finland where she has been living ever since.
Now she has come back to St Petersburg intending to revive what she calls the "old Russian tradition of theater," implying that art should come out of its hiding place in theater buildings and back to the public.
Theater should have a direct communication with the public as it used to have in Russia before the October revolution, when restaurants were common locations for theaters, she believes.
For her stage, Victoria and her group have chosen a city Oriental restaurant, Koroli Vostoka (Kings of the Orient) where her women's theater called "NYMPH Magic Theater" officially opened last week.
"This is no coincidence," says Victoria, reiterating that her show is closely connected with the ancient philosophy of Romans and Greeks, and the biblical legends and myths that owe their origin to the East.
She divides the universe into different astronomic epochs of 2,000 years, saying that 2,000 Earth years equal one cosmic year.
The approaching year 2000 is the end of the Pisces era, according to Victoria, and the end of a masculine genesis. The next 2,000 years, which she calls the epoch of Aquarius, will be the beginning of the feminine genesis.
She warns, however, that it is in no way a question of superiority of one sex over another, but rather an active revival of female folks. "Women will save the world," says Victoria.
All these phenomena are manifest in her series of plays, the first of which is known as "Salome." Victoria plays the biblical character Salome, wife of King Herod, who demanded the head of John the Baptist.
But Victoria does not depict Salome's act as an evil per se, rather as a natural phenomenon of dualism, in which good and evils are interdependent on one another. "It was going to happen anyway," says Victoria.
Erotic dancing and fire magic are the main elements in the play. Victoria, using her magic power, ignites the fire which she believes is the origin of life to start the play. Erotic dancing is involved because it is the main element of a feminine beauty and is "magic" by itself, believes Victoria.