A deadly balancing act

Choreographer and director Sun Lili led 33 acrobats from the China National Acrobatic Troupe to compete during the 11th China Acrobatics Golden Chrysanthemum Awards, and their show, Wind Chasers — Allmale Group Bicycle Act, also won as one of the top 10 best shows.

The artistic cycling performance was praised by audiences and judges because it featured an all-male cast. Usually the company's artistic cycling performance involves female performers, displaying graceful, yet highly dangerous tricks, all the while in motion upon two specialized wheels.

"We started to prepare for the new show over three years ago. We wanted to offer the audience a sense of freshness regarding artistic cycling performances," says Sun, adding that the company's artistic cycling performance has a history of more than 60 years, and is performed by one, two, or up to around 30 riders.

"We let the male acrobats cycle faster than the female acrobats. We also designed new movements, such as having one acrobat walking on the back of the riders just as fluidly and steadily as walking on the ground," says Sun. "It took a very long time for them to practice and to display these extraordinary feats of strength, beauty and physical control.

"When we performed during the competition, the audience not only gave warm and long applause but also cheered and screamed out with excitement. Their feedback is as important as the award," Sun adds.

The 11th China Acrobatics Golden Chrysanthemum Awards was part of the fifth China Acrobatic Arts Festival, which was held in Puyang from Nov 8 to 13. Organized by the China Acrobats Association, the festival was first held in Beijing in 2001 and then in 2011, and later held in other Chinese cities: Luoyang of Henan province in 2016 and Puyang in 2019.

Besides the competition, acrobatic shows were staged during the festival, including The Butterfly Lovers, performed and produced by the Guangzhou Acrobatic Arts Troupe of China, featuring the company's star acrobats Wu Zhengdan and Wei Baohua.

"China's acrobatics troupes have gained an international reputation with touring and competing overseas. They have received warm feedback from audiences at home and abroad and won lots of awards," says Tang Yanhai, vice-president of the China Acrobats Association. "With new choreography, new music, new stories and new acrobats, we are glad to see that this old art is alive with creativity."