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| Shanghai Centre |
No matter how much of a China veteran you are, it’s hard not to be impressed every time you see the incredible skill these people possess, whether it’s the tiny young contortionists twisting themselves into pretzels, though still powerful enough to balance on a single arm, or the tumblers jumping effortlessly through moving hoops barely bigger than their bodies. Plate spinning, juggling huge ceramic vases, balancing stacks of champagne glasses on their foreheads while balanced on stilts, catapulting high in the air – whatever the challenge, they make it look easy. But the reality, of course, is that it’s anything but… as I soon learned, myself.
Recently, inspired by a trip to see Huangpu Sensation, I ventured over to the Shanghai Circus World to watch the acrobats in their daily training. A pair of white tigers sat gazing out from their cages lazily, and a pony trotted past as I entered the gate. The performers look quite different here, in their worn-out exercise clothes, with tape around their wrists, sweating and grunting, as opposed to onstage, in sparkling costumes with beaming smiles. The young contortionists are balancing in handstands on small benches, each with a wristwatch lying directly under her eyes to count the time. They must balance like this for up to ten minutes at a time, for several hours a day. On the opposite side of the circus-ring-like practice area, a group of guys are catapulting each other 25 feet in the air, doing flips and landing on a soft mat.
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| Chinese Acrobatic Show |
It took a lot of convincing, but eventually I was allowed to give it a try. I should note at this point that I’m not just a journalist, but also a yoga teacher, and have studied Shaolin Martial Arts, so I’m not your average couch potato by any means. But then, I’m not quite ready for Cirque du Soleil, either, as evidenced by the amount of sweat pouring from my body as I practice handstands, and the debacle I make of juggling as the plate spinners on the other side of the room laugh at me.
The training at Shanghai Circus School is so harsh that many of the students give up before they ever make it onto the stage. One of those who didn’t give up is Shen Si Si. If you’ve ever been to see Huangpu Sensation, you might have met her. She’s the one soaring around in a mid-air dance, hanging precariously from a long piece of red silk, or the arm of her partner. When I ask what inspired her to become an acrobat, she says she first saw acrobatics on television as a child, and it looked like an interesting challenge. At age 7, she was already studying several styles of dance. By age 9, she was a member of the Shanghai Circus School. For the next seven years, she would wake up at 6am and practice until night, stopping only for meals and study breaks (the circus academy students have three school lessons per day).
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| Chinese Acrobatic Show |
“At first it was so difficult, especially the basic training exercises,” she recalls of the handstands and Chinese Kung Fu-style training that each student must master before even starting to practice their true acrobatic skills. “I almost gave up many times, but in the end I just stuck to it.” Si Si has been a plate spinner, a hoola-hooper, and an adagio performer (a form of partner acrobatics that requires pinpoint precision balance), traveling with the acrobatics troupe all around the world. Her life is much easier now than when she was a student. She trains only three hours a day, and performs almost every night. But at age 23, she’s Newsalready facing retirement in a few years. “I’d like to become an acrobatics teacher,” she says.
I ask if she’s ever been injured before, and she nods. “I’ve hurt myself many times in training, but nothing too serious. I’ve never fallen during a performance. By the time you perform on stage, you know your routine so well it’s hard to make a mistake, though my first time on stage I was really nervous!” She says she still gets a thrill from the audience applause, even now. And enjoys the invitations to sign autographs and take photos after each show. One day I walk with the young contortionists from their dormitory to the Shanghai Centre Theater for a dress rehearsal. It’s interesting to see them acting like any other little girls for a while, giggling and running off to buy sweets when the teacher isn’t looking. But once they’re in costume and make-up, it’s all seriousness. They run through the routine and make a refinement of a few small details.
The Huangpu Sensation is something of a work-in-progress – it’s constantly changing and evolving, bringing in new acts and performances that are carefully guarded trade secrets. Before the show begins, Si Si and I say goodbye and make a promise to stay in touch and practice partner acrobatics together. For now, don’t expect to see me up on stage at Huangpu Sensation any time soon. But just maybe, one day…
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