Thousands of years ago Chinese people created toys out of household items such as plates, jars and chairs, which they spun, juggled and balanced.
Today this ancient art form is preserved by groups like the Peking Acrobats, who will perform Friday at CLC during their 30th anniversary year of touring the world to show off their athletic skills.
Professional musicians play colorful, decorated traditional Chinese instruments such as the er-hu, a stringed instrument with a sound resembling the mournful quality of a cello, while acrobats perform daring maneuvers atop a pagoda of chairs along with tumbling, juggling and contortionist feats.
“Chinese acrobatics is so popular because it’s got the wow factor,” said Cynthia Dike-Hughes, co-producer of the Peking Acrobats, which is part of IAI Presentations, Inc. The company has offices in California, Moscow, Russia and China and tours with cultural productions.
“The Peking Acrobats is all about defying gravity and the laws of physics,” Dike-Hughes said. “It’s very eye catching and at the same time, it’s also a beautiful art form to watch.” Shows are often sold out, she said.
Dike-Hughes said the producers work to maintain the purity of the Chinese acrobatic art from while inspiring the athletes to be creative.
For example, there’s the traditional high chair act, when performers balance on the tip of chairs layered 20 feet in the air with no safety lines and no wires. “They’re balancing using all their body strength to keep them up there,” she said.
“But each performer brings his or her own personal stamp to the act, for example, the way they balance. One of our performers balances on the vertical. He’s actually parallel to the stack chairs at one point. It’s extremely frightening.”
That said, “we have minimal injuries.” That’s because the acrobats begin training at the age of 5 or 6 and are chosen based on their particular innate skills.
The contortionist, for example, “has a certain suppleness to the muscles and tendons,” she said. “The jugglers and the balancing people — they have incredible hand-eye coordination.”
China has special schools to train the acrobats. Students study basic skills such as reading, writing and math in the morning, and in the afternoon, they hone their acrobatic craft.
“They are trained on how to land on their feet, how to take care of their bodies and how to make sure they’re warmed up.”
What she loves most about working with the Peking Acrobats is that “the audience is so receptive and so responsive and they’re so grateful to the performers for sharing their talent. It’s very rewarding, moving.”
“They love coming to the U.S.,” she said of the performers. “They see so much of the world. These are new experiences they can add to their resume. As athletes they have a short window of opportunity to be a performer. So being a part of the Peking Acrobats is a real honor for them.”
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer.
Peking Acrobats 30th Anniversary Tour
When: 8 p.m. Friday
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Where: James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts, CLC, 19351 W. Washington St., Grayslake
Tickets: $12-$45
Information: 847-543-2300; jlcenter.clcillinois.edu