China National Acrobatic Troupe wins the ‘Golden Chrysanthemum’ for the tenth time

People's Daily Online, Beijing, June 24 (reporter Yin Xingyun) — On June 22 the awards of the final of the 12th China Acrobatics "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" National Magic & Comedy Competition, jointly held by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Acrobats Association, were presented in Shenzhen. In this edition, 54 entries from 23 companies across the country were narrowed by the organising committee's preliminary review to 24 acts in the final. The company behind "Illusion · Realm," the magic act entered by the China National Acrobatic Troupe under the Beijing Performance & Arts Group, took part in the final and won this edition's "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" for Magic Act — the 73rd gold award and the 10th "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" on the troupe's medal roll.

The China National Acrobatic Troupe brought together an outstanding creative team and presented "Illusion · Realm" splendidly on the final's stage. The act won the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" on the strength of its combined innovation in magic technique, apparatus development and finely judged subject matter, together with a professional, assured and expansive stage presence. It is worth noting that the magicians Hu Linglong and An Na have now won the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" twice.

In response to the booming trend of magic performance, the China National Acrobatic Troupe has been optimising its development plan and working to advance magic, forming a dedicated magic project team and successively running a series of magic-themed works such as "Dreammaker: Secret Realm" and "Magic & Voice." The entry "Illusion · Realm" takes "time travel" and "cultural relics" as its creative premise and sets out to embody the artistic character of China's fine traditional culture.

Since 2000, when the magician Li Ning starred in "Shifting Shapes and Shadows — Three Transformations" and took a gold award in the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" competition, the China National Acrobatic Troupe has now won the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" ten times in all, across the magic, acrobatics and full-length production categories of the award's various competitions and adjudications.

The China National Acrobatic Troupe will continue to uphold its artistic creed of "pursuing excellence and shaping classics," reaching for new heights of artistic refinement and new goals in market-oriented development, sustaining the growth of Chinese acrobatics and magic, and supporting the building of Beijing as a capital of the performing arts and a national cultural centre.