Illusion · Realm takes ‘gold’, a tenth ’chrysanthemum’ on the same stem
On June 22 the final of the 12th "China Golden Chrysanthemum Award for Circus Arts — National Magic & Comedy Competition," held jointly by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Acrobats Association, presented its prizes in Shenzhen, Guangdong. In this edition, 54 works from 23 companies across the country went through the organizing committee's preliminary review, and 24 acts were selected for the final. The team behind "Illusion · Realm," the magic work entered by the China National Acrobatic Troupe under the Beijing Performance & Arts Group, was led into the final by Lü Limin, Party secretary and chairman of China National Acrobatic Troupe Co., Ltd., with the troupe's creative director Sun Lili directing the presentation on site; through the concerted effort of the whole team it finally took this edition's "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" Magic Act Award. This is the 73rd gold on the China National Acrobatic Troupe's medal list and its 10th "Golden Chrysanthemum Award."
Ingenious ideas remake "Illusion · Realm," and joint effort wins the "Golden Chrysanthemum"
Led by the troupe's director Li Chi, the China National Acrobatic Troupe's "Illusion · Realm" team chose its subject with care, developed it seriously and prepared actively; the troupe's chief engineer Wang Jianmin gave the project team effective technical guidance, every department of the company worked together to push the project forward, and the act received strong support and help from artists in all fields.
The China National Acrobatic Troupe's magicians Hu Linglong and An Na, the young director Fan Yupeng and the lighting designer Qiao Mu, together with the collaborating young composer Yang Yi and the multimedia artist Sun Haozhe, made up the core creative team; working closely with the troupe's young performers Han Jiarui, Wang Chan, Cui Liang, Shi Meiru and Shi Meiyu and with the technical team, they brought "Illusion · Realm" brilliantly to the final's stage. The act took the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" on the combined strength of its magic skill, its apparatus development and its finely chosen subject, and of a professional, assured and expansive stage presence. The magicians Hu Linglong and An Na thereby became two-time winners of the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award."
Rooted in tradition, creating anew, showing Chinese style
Faced with the surging trend of magic performance, the China National Acrobatic Troupe has actively refined its business layout and worked to develop its magic business. Deputy general manager Chang Ming took the lead in forming a magic project team and has since run a series of magic-themed works including "Dreammaker: Secret Realm" and "Magic & Voice," winning both social and economic returns.
The entry "Illusion · Realm" takes as its creative purpose "working to continue the Chinese cultural lineage and to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture"; taking "time travel" and "cultural relics" as its starting points, it set off a full burst of combined creativity, seeking to embody the artistic character of Chinese culture, to tell China's story, shape China's image and show Chinese style.
Ten "Chrysanthemums" on one stem set a new record, showing the troupe's strength
Since 2000, when the magic artist Li Ning starred in "Shifting Shapes · Three Transformations" in the "Golden Chrysanthemum Award" competition and won the Gold Award, the China National Acrobatic Troupe has now taken ten "Golden Chrysanthemum Awards" in all across the magic, acrobatics, stage-production and other categories of the China Golden Chrysanthemum Award competitions and prizes.
From "Shifting Shapes · Three Transformations," "Soul of China," "Slack Wire," "Seeking the Dream · Bounding Crutch Balancing" and "Embracing the Dream, Holding Up the Sky · Swinging High Crutches," to "One Grade, Three Marvels," "Ninth Wave — Pole Act," "Light Turning on a Jade Pot," "Wind Chasers — Men's Group Bicycle Act" and "Illusion · Realm" — ten "Golden Chrysanthemums" blooming on one stem are the concentrated expression of the China National Acrobatic Troupe's long commitment to a strategy of fine work, the concrete showing of the tenacious, ever-climbing artistic spirit of generations of the troupe's artists, and, more than that, a milestone in the troupe's work of fully consolidating its industrial base and steadily strengthening its overall power amid a new era, new circumstances, new pursuits and a new layout.
2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. An official of the China National Acrobatic Troupe said the troupe will take this award as an opportunity to continue holding to its artistic idea of "pursuing excellence and shaping classics" and reach new heights of artistic refinement; to continue holding to its performing idea of "letting the world see the best acrobatics" and raise its ambitions for market development; and to continue holding to its international idea of "showing a world to China" and quicken its pace of international development, striving to make new contributions to Chinese acrobatic and magic art and to the building of Beijing as a capital of performing arts and a national cultural centre.