Shanghai Acrobats Land at GMU Center for the Arts

FAIRFAX, Va. On Saturday, November 5, 2016, hundreds gathered to watch The Shanghai
Acrobats of the Peoples Republic of China perform at George Mason Universitys Center for the
Arts. During the two-hour event, which started at 2:00 p.m., the audience watched nine different
routines by 40 performers, ranging from acrobatics to juggling to martial arts demonstrations.
The Shanghai Acrobats of the Peoples Republic of China was founded in 1959. Since then they
have won several national and international awards including gold medals for silk spinning and
ball balancing and silver medals in pole acrobatics and hoop diving in the First National Juvenile
Acrobatic Competition of China. They have performed in more than 30 countries and have
toured with Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus, and Cirque du Soleils Mystre.
Their stop at George Mason is a part of their coast-to-coast tour across North America, where
they debuted the production titled, Shanghai Nights!
The show was launched with a dramatic boom of whimsical music, as a single performer danced
onto a dismal stage, with two large walls. When the performer approached the walls, they began
to separate and revealed a second performer. The audience was quickly drawn into the unfolding
fantasy world of a young man who befriends a fairy phoenix and travels with her through air,
land, and sea.
A series of performances throughout the first act of Shanghai Nights, including a trio of
balancers, a group of ball jugglers, and a creative dance piece, represent the innocence and
wonder of the young mans experiences. The colors on stage were bright and the performers
costumes moved freely with the accompanying music. The energy of the compositions was
upbeat and the audience joined in the performance by clapping along to the music.
Toward the end of the first act, the character representing a jester invited a member of the
audience to join him on stage. The routine, a pause to distract the audience as the stage was being
changed, generated laughter from the audience
The second act began with red lighting pouring across the stage and ominous music sounding
throughout the hall, a contrast to the energy delivered during the first act. Performers balancing
on a tower of chairs, acrobats diving through hoops, and acrobats swinging from moving triangle
poles led the audience in a more daredevil direction than the first act. The performances, quick,
sharp, and precise, captured the protagonists emotions, as the story quickly unravels into a dark
place.
The performance concluded with the revelation that the events were a dream and innocence and
love is restored. The finale was followed by the curtain call where bowing performers received a
standing ovation from the audience.
The Shanghai Acrobats of the People's Republic of China continue their North American tour at the
Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas, Va. on November 12 at 8:00 p.m.