The Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Erin Odell The National Acrobats of China perform Thursday night in the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, combining martial arts, traditional music, acrobatics and dance.

It would be a neat trick with one, amazing with two, but how unbelievable would it be to watch someone balancing eight spinning plates on poles at once? Now multiply that level of astonishment by 12 people and that is the level of talent displayed by the National Acrobats of China Thursday night at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. Of course, spinning plates was just the first of many breathtaking routines the acrobatic troupe performed to a continuously astonished audience.

"My mouth was open the whole show. I just couldn't believe what was happening," said Kara Timberlake of Tolland.

Equally astonished was Michael Manos, an 8th-semester civil engineering major who said, "The show was jaw-dropping, mind blowing, stomach churning and evoked many more emotions I didn't even know I had."

For over 50 years, the National Acrobats of China have been one of the most influential acrobat troupes in the world, and ambassadors for the gymnastic ability of their native country. During their lifetime they have toured over 30 countries, and have won various awards for their routines, some of which were performed last night.

One routine was the Golden Lion award-winning "Straw Hats Juggling," which involved a line up of 10 male acrobats who juggled, tossed about and caught their hats with pinpoint coordination.

The female acrobats had a chance to perform a stunning routine of their own called "Bicycle." With a grace to match their beauty, the acrobats rode in perfect unison while they partnered up to do hand stands on their bicycles.

The show was not all flipping and juggling, as the National Acrobats showed off other impressive gymnastic feats such as personal physical flexibility, as in the routine Contortion. With each new twist of the female acrobat's body, the audience cringed at positions that would make any average person shriek in pain.

"I thought the contortionist was cool," said Derek Nener-Plante, a graduate student in civil engineering. "I think she had a broken back because otherwise that didn't seem possible."

In another routine, some acrobats had a chance to show off their martial arts skills, which were accompanied by tumbling and balancing tricks. Yet it was more than the physical tricks that made the show a moving work of art. It was also the colorful costumes and the mood-setting music that made the show a complete experience.

The element that truly made it a magical performance was the anticipation of what the acrobats would do next. Naturally, the National Acrobats always delivered on the anticipation, like how they miraculously fit 14 female acrobats on one bicycle. So among the perfect dismounts, mesmerizing flips and Diablo (a Chinese yo-yo) throwing tricks, the National Acrobats of China put on a show that pushed the limits of the physical body while representing a culture that is capable of limitless achievement.

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