Dalian Acrobatic Troupe

From Circopedia

Chinese Acrobatics

By Dominique Jando


The People's Republic of China is a multi-national country, an ancient civilization with a long history and a rich and brilliant culture. Over several millennia, its peoples have created many forms of performing arts, each of them characterized by a host of schools and styles. They have followed, for centuries, a linear evolution aimed towards the extreme refinement of the skills involved in a particular art form.

Although China started contacts with non-Asian countries more than two thousand years ago, foreign influences were absorbed and rendered with a Chinese flavor for the sole benefitSpecial performance whose entire profit went to a performer; the number of benefits a performer was offered (usually one, but sometimes more for a star performer during a long engagement) was stipulated in his contract. Benefits disappeared in the early twentieth century. of that evolution. In this peculiarity lies the most important difference between Chinese and Western cultural traditions: The latter is more organic and open to new components, while the Chinese tradition aims towards the perfection of already known elements, and the integration of new elements into an existing mold.

The Chinese Acrobatic Theater followed the same development pattern. Whereas European and American circuses were in a constant search for novelties and new techniques (driven in part by commercial needs, especially in the United States), Chinese acrobats limited their repertoire (although it came to include over two hundred different specialties—which is quite a number in any respect), but they constantly improved their presentation and increased the level of difficulty of the tricks involved, always striving to reach an elusive perfection.

The Show Of One Hundred Skills

Historical records, carvings and mural paintings in tombs and grottos (such as the brick carvings discovered in the Han Dynasty tomb of Chengdu, in the Szechuan province) date the origins of Chinese Acrobatics more than two thousands years ago, during the Warring States period. They developed mostly during the Qin and Huan Dynasties (221 B.C.-230 A.D.) and reached a remarkable level of quality and refinement during the Western Huan Dynasty, evolving from a simple exhibition of skills into a performing art, with a rich and eclectic repertory including tumbling, balancing, plate spinning, pole balancing, rope dancing, etc. This acrobatic performance was known as The Show of One Hundred Skills.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese government, following its policy of "Let a hundred flowers blossom and weed through the old to bring forth the new," brought about a spectacular renaissance of the Acrobatic Theater. Acrobatic troupes were created in each province and every major city, and were given their own theaters. The teaching was (and still is) done within the troupe, old performers training the new generation. These troupes experienced a serious setback during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1969), but only to see their vitality soaring afterward.

The Dalian Acrobatic Troupe Today

Located in the port city of Dalian, in the south of the Liaoning Province, the Dalian Acrobatic Troupe was set up in August 1952. Over the past sixty years, the Troupe has created a number of original acts with distinctive features that had a significant influence on the the contemporary Chinese acrobatic arts. Its Water Meteors act, performed by Cui Fengyun, participated in the 9th International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo in 1983, and won a Silver Lion at the Wu Qiao International Acrobatic Festival in 1987. in 1999, Cong Tian's slack wireA Tight Wire, or Low Wire, kept slack, and generally used for juggling or balancing tricks. act won a Silver Medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris and a Silver Clown at the 23rd International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo. Its bicycle act won a Silver Medal at the 27th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris in 2006.

The Troupe has visited over forty countries, including North and South Koreas, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Greece, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Yugoslavia, the Philippines, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, America, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Canada, Austria, Norway, Germany, France, the Arab Emirates, and the United States—where its bicycle act has been featured in the Big Apple Circus's 35th anniversary production of Legendarium. The troupe includes two First Class Artists of the People's Republic of China, Cui Fengyun and Cong Tian.

See Also

Image Gallery

  • Dalian Troupe's Bicycle Act at the Big Apple Circus (2012)

  • Dalian Troupe's Bicycle Act at the Big Apple Circus (2012)

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