National Acrobats of Taiwan

Presented by the Vancouver Symphony


   

Dates 12 January 2005 at 20.00 Venue Orpheum Theatre Reviewer Ed Farolan

 


National Acrobats of Taiwan

This spectacle of acrobats was both poetic and entertaining -- poetic in the sense that for Asians, poetry merges with art, and dance mixes with acrobatics. War is also art, and the art of fighting, as so often seen in Chinese movies like the award-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and House of Flying Daggers, now showing in movie houses in Vancouver, is warfare in dance form.

These acrobats and dancers brought rituals and religion on stage. Chinese ancient religions, like Greek mythology, exude the essence of Oriental culture where the sun, moon, water, fire, and earth are basic to the cycle of life and death.

The performance opened with drums and a display of martial arts. Male acrobats somersaulted and proved their strength. Following this were female acrobats in their delicacy, tender bodies contorting their bodies gracefully, forming art forms - calligraphy in motion. Warm applause came from the audience.

The Lotus Blooms was a number that fascinated the audience. Female acrobats in their dazzling costumes came out twirling plates and giving us the impression of lotuses blooming in spring.

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But what really got the audience with their oohs and aahhs was Up to the Wind . Children were wowing and moms had hands clasped to mouths in fear and awe as a male acrobat piled as many as a dozen chairs on top of each other almost reaching the roof of the theatre, and there, doing his acrobatics. Whew! What a relief as he safely landed back to earth. He got a standing ovation from an appreciative Vancouver audience for this daring feat.  

Comic relief was next in line with some magic by the troupe's Artistic Director, Lo Jih-Hung. Born in 1949, Lo was educated in the Peng-xiang County Acrobatic Institute in Jian-xi Province in the People's Republic of China. He is well-known to Hong Kong's Tonight TV show as a magician/comedian. What made his show funny was, as is always the case in all magic shows, getting the audience to participate. An audience member came up to volunteer, and this got the audience laughing especially when his head was about to be guillotined.

This was a truly entertaining show. Of course, there were a few mistakes. A juggler dropped a few balls, an acrobat didn't go through hoops properly, a few plates didn't twirl and fell, but, all in all, the audience came out satisfied and saying, "It was well worth the money."


© 2005 Ed Farolan


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