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Chinese Celebrate New Year, Acrobatics
Johnson County Community College
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Chinese Celebrate New Year, Acrobatics
The National Acrobats of China combine the 2,000-year-old traditions of the Han dynasty with the 21st century lights and music of a Las Vegas cirque show. The acrobats (aka artists, dancers, contortionists, athletes and magicians) are awe-inspiring as men dive through flaming hoops juxtaposed by 12 women in a graceful ballet who spin six plates apiece.
The National Acrobats of China, all graduates of the Fu Hsing Academy, display dramatic folk arts in their performance, The Chinese Blossom, at 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Jan. 30-31, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College.
Considered the foremost acrobatic troupe in China, the 35 members of National Acrobats go beyond ordinary circus tricks. Their program gives an artful bow to traditional Chinese images – musical instruments, bamboo, lanterns, colorful silk scarves and lotus blossoms. Acts have titles like Heroic Drums and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that combine martial arts and music; A Ceremony on the Steep Cliff with men dressed in Taiwanese aboriginal costumes performing hand acrobatics and fire dancing; and The Mirror Image, a magic show culminating in a disappearing apprentice.
The bring-the-audience-to-its-feet act is a young man who balances on top of seven chairs stacked one on top of the other, the bottom one “anchored” by its four legs in champagne bottles. In a change of pace, lovers walk through a forest of flowers, and an elegant actress balances lighted candlesticks on the soles of her feet, forehead, hands and even on her mouth.
The astounding athletes undertake feats that range from gravity-defying balancing acts to spine-bending contortions. Their mission is to make traditional folk acrobatic arts versatile and accessible and to spread Chinese culture, promote folk arts and establish cultural exchanges with other countries.
National Acrobats of China tickets are $30 and $40, available by calling the Carlsen Center box office at 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter.
