In the evening of April 30, 2010, we went to watch an acrobatics performance, titled "Revolution", by the Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe, for the publicity of the Shanghai Expo'10. An album of selected photos of what I took in the show have been uploaded to my web gallery.
Taking my son to this acrobatic performance was meant to be a surprise and an encouragement to him for his being a good boy. Nevertheless, the performance turned out to be an unexpected, fascinating entertainment for my wife and myself too. In fact, not only us but also all the audience, Japanese and Chinese, were greatly amazed; the gigantic tent was filled by non-stopping "Wow" and applause.
I haven't seen a live acrobatic show for more than two decades. In my dim memory, China's acrobatics is simply a stereotype set of stunts, sometimes mixed with comic elements. As a consequence, having seen in the show that China's acrobatics has been developed into such a seamless, beautiful combination of incredible body actions and other performing arts, such as dance, play, and comic sketch, with also great incidental music, my astonishment and enjoyment baffle description.
Needless to say, I liked all the items in the performance; however, if I was cruelly restricted to recommend only two of them, I would nominate the following.
The first is what I shall translate as "Somewhere In Time" (时光之恋 in Chinese), a touching love story, illustrated by two acrobats, a young man and a young woman, with their stunning acrobatics and beautiful dance, accompanied by intoxicating music and coincident scenery projected on the giant screen behind the stage. The young man obviously had a crush on the young woman in a faded photo on a "wall". His persistent one-sided love caused the miracle: either she walked out of the photo or he went back in time; they met. The man then chased her; he danced with her and took her to "fly", in moonlit and in rain of flower petals. Certainly, she was deeply moved but she still hesitated, as she probably foresaw their tragical ending. Finally, she accepted him, and blissfully, they danced and flew together in the sky. As always, a love story like this never had a happy ending. The time machine was suddenly turned off, as when it was turned on, and the young woman disappeared. What remained was again the faded photo and the lonely, desperate young man, stretching his arm and hand out to reach the elapsed illusion and to touch the seemingly existing warmth she left in the air. I thought this acrobatic play was inspired by the famous movie "Somewhere In Time (1980)". I thus borrowed the movie title for an English translation. What amazed me the most was that the performance of the two acrobats — their facial expressions, body languages, and incredible stunts — was so vivid that every single emotional transition in the inward world of the two characters was lucidly conveyed to the audience. A great performance indeed!
The second one, actually the one I like most, doesn't seem to have an official title, at least not clearly written on the poster. I would call it in English "Cocoon-Break" because it was inspired by how a silkworm becomes a beautiful butterfly. Let me calm down to describe as well as I can what I have seen.
The acrobat was a boy, about 15 years old I think but not sure. The whole stage was in dark except him in the spotlight, on a round table, covered with a piece of flannel in dark blue. Initially he was resting in an elegant pose, like longing for something precious. Then the theme music began, and he started to act, in unimaginable forms. In seconds, he stopped moving, with his legs completely split on the table. No one knew what would happen afterward. All of a sudden, he pulled himself up by dragging his two legs together, while unbelievably keeping them and his torso perfectly straight. (For the sake of your imagination, an instantaneous, intermediate pose of the acrobat was an upside-down "Y" shape.) The whole movement was so smooth and fast that I could not believe it was completed by a human being rather than by an invisible, miraculous power. My chin was simply shocked off, and regretfully the only word (actually only a sound) I could speak out at that moment was "Wow".
From then on, the acrobat continued to pose in various ways that were far beyond one's imagination, in the background music, which was sometimes full of power and grandeur and sometimes euphemistic and mellow, perfecting matching his actions. Throughout his performance, I had been completely immersed in the beauty of human body, a perfect unity of virility and flexibility, that he illustrated to us. While I can't figure out how he has achieved that body flexibility and that strength in the meantime, as a father, I can't bear to know how much he has suffered, both physically and psychologically, from his training to become what he now is.
This boy reminded me about a younger cousin of mine, who had been an acrobat in late 80's and early 90's. He was a very good acrobat; nonetheless, he received miserable income and became unemployed after he left his acrobatics troupe. He had to leave because acrobatics — in particular those kinds that demand body flexibility and strength — is a profession only for very young people and he was not young enough any longer at that time. As a matter of fact, many acrobats in that era struggled for living as my cousin did. The reason was a complicated combination of many factors. Mainly there were three, I think.
Firstly, most acrobats in that era were undereducated. They usually came from poor families who could hardly afford their education. On the other hand, acrobatics troupes/schools not only didn't charge tuition/fees but also cover the the student's living expenses. Therefore, some poor families sent their children to learn acrobatics even before they went to elementary schools. Secondly, the acrobats were not treated well. They were simply used as cash cows by their coaches and leaders who gave them very little caring. Corporal punishment was quite common. Taking my cousin as an example, one day he made a mistake in a dangerous action and broke his right arm; notwithstanding, his coach didn't even notice his injury (or might not care) but punished him to handstand until he slumped in a faint. This was certainly the tip of an iceberg. Furthermore, because the techniques involved in acrobatic actions are extremely risky and challenging to human bodies, to be a competent acrobat, the students have to endure an incredible amount of physical and psychological pain since being about 6 years old. Injuries occur very often, and some of them are permanent. Thirdly, in the acrobatics back then a great deal of attention was paid to astounding techniques and skills, whereas much less was paid to artistic elements, especially performance arts. This caused that most acrobats at that time didn't gain much artistic culture. As a consequence of these factors, many acrobats could not find a decent job by the age when they had to leave the career. Some acrobats could manage to become coaches but most couldn't simply because there wasn't such a big market of acrobatic coaches.
I am not sure what the situation is now and haven't spent time to look into it. Nevertheless, from the show performed by the Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe, I got the feeling that it is much better nowadays. At least, I saw a lot hope. I would call on more humanistic care of the acrobats, improvements on their training conditions and health care, and help on their education and career after their retirement at very young age.
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同爽，同爽，呵呵。
过得很爽哈。
同爽，同爽，呵呵。