Magic act Illusion · Realm takes top prize; China National Acrobatic Troupe wins its tenth ‘Golden Chrysanthemum’

On 22 June, the awards of the finals of the 12th "China Golden Chrysanthemum Award for Circus Arts — National Magic & Comedy Competition," jointly organised by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Acrobats Association, were presented in Shenzhen. In the organising committee's preliminary round, 24 acts stood out from 54 works by 23 companies nationwide to reach the finals. "Illusion · Realm," the magic work entered by the China National Acrobatic Troupe under the Beijing Performance & Arts Group, took this edition's "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" for a magic act — the troupe's 73rd gold medal.

The act's team at the award presentation

The China National Acrobatic Troupe's "Illusion · Realm" team was led by troupe director Li Chi in choosing the subject and developing the work, with chief engineer Wang Jianmin providing technical guidance. "Illusion · Realm" brought together a core creative team including the magicians Hu Linglong and An Na, young director Fan Yupeng, lighting designer Qiao Mu, composer Yang Yi and multimedia artist Sun Haozhe; taking "time travel" and "cultural relics" as its inspiration, it set off a full burst of integrated creativity. In the finals, the young performers Han Jiarui, Wang Chan, Cui Liang, Shi Meiru and Shi Meiyu worked closely with the technical team to give a brilliant account of the work's all-round strengths in magic technique, apparatus development and finely judged subject matter.

A still from "Illusion · Realm"

Since 2000, when the magic artist Li Ning starred in the act "Shifting Forms, Changing Shadows — Three Transformations" at the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" competition and took the gold, the China National Acrobatic Troupe has won the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" 10 times in all, and Hu Linglong and An Na have become two-time "Golden Chrysanthemum" magicians.