China National Acrobatic Troupe’s ‘Astonishing Skills’ speaks for ’new national-style acrobatics’

China Youth Daily app (China Youth Daily · cyol.com reporter Jiang Xiaobin) — On September 30 the special performance "Astounding the Audience," planned and presented by the China National Acrobatic Troupe, was staged to great effect at the Dongtu Theatre in Beijing. With a star-studded cast made up of Cao Kai, champion of the variety show "Astounding the Audience," and a number of gold-award-winning acrobats, the performance revisited several "hit" acts from the programme together with new gold-award works created by the troupe.

The showcase combined artistry, storytelling and spectacle, presenting both the front of house and the backstage of the China National Acrobatic Troupe, as well as the fresh treatment its new generation of performers gives to traditional acrobatic forms such as ball juggling, foot-juggling umbrellas and diabolo.

Magicians Hu Linglong and An Na together presented "Secret Realm," the magic act that won the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award," the highest honour in Chinese magic. Adapted and further developed from traditional dove magic, it conveys the cultural theme of harmony among people, nature and animals.

"Yu Linglong — Foot-Juggling Umbrellas" takes its inspiration from the troupe's classic act "Moonlight over the Lotus Pond — Group Foot-Juggling Umbrellas"; the performers displayed high-difficulty techniques such as passing umbrellas along a row, exchanging umbrellas in a sideways flight, and passing umbrellas in the deep arched "searching the sea" pose.

Cao Kai's "Beat · Tap — Ball Juggling" achieves a fusion of traditional Chinese acrobatics and Western dance: perfectly controlled ball work and free, unrestrained tap dancing shift with the rhythm of the music.

In "Bitter and Sweet — Balancing Act," Xing Yunwei "tells," without a word, of his original resolve to pursue acrobatic art to its limits and of the younger generation's pursuit of and persistence in acrobatics, showing the boundless expressive possibilities of acrobatic technique.

"The Charming Huadan — Group Diabolo," a repeated winner of the top international acrobatic honours including the "Golden Clown" Award and the "Golden Crane Award," dazzled the house in the brilliant rendering of a new generation of diabolo performers.

The Beijing Performance & Arts Group's "Talent Performance Season" is an exploration of innovative mechanisms for cultivating artistic talent in troupes that have been converted into enterprises. While putting "talent" in the spotlight, the member troupes are widening their audiences and reaching for younger viewers, bringing more fine works of art into people's lives. (All photographs in this article are provided by the China National Acrobatic Troupe.)