Shanghai Circus acrobats captivate Orono audience

When you think of Super Bowl Sunday, what’s more of a natural fit than … Chinese acrobats?

Well, maybe not. But the sellout crowd Sunday at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono didn’t mind, as the New Shanghai Circus kept everybody amazed for nearly two hours.

When Americans think of circuses, they think of a three-ring event under a big top, with animals, clowns, the daring young man on the flying trapeze, and a ringmaster.

Chinese acrobatic tradition, which goes back more than 2,500 years, takes a different approach, with the emphasis on flexibility, strength and skill. The performance at the Hutchins Concert Hall was no exception.

The only animals appeared in the Lion Dance, which led off the second half of the show. Those two kings of beasts were actually pairs of acrobats who walked onto stands and a giant ball while in pursuit of a ball of bells.

There were quite a few fascinating solo acts. One of the best was that of veteran magician Qin Mingxiao. After warming up with a few sleight-of-hand tricks, he invited a male audience member onstage to assist him. He and the volunteer bound Qin’s wife and assistant, Yao Jinfen, in ropes. Then the volunteer received his own Chinese coat to wear. The volunteer and Yao stepped into a four-sided curtain, and when it dropped, Yao, still bound, was wearing the volunteer’s coat.

A promising performer was young Li Yang, who contorted into all kinds of positions while holding a lit candelabra in the air on one foot. Eventually, she had such candelabras on both feet and hands, her chin and her forehead, yet she still rolled back and forth from her back to her front without dropping them.

Aerial acrobatics were in vogue on the Russian bars. Two male troupe members would shoulder the long, flexible bars, while Pan Tianchan, the show’s youngest performer, and Qui Min took turns doing stunts while being thrown into the air off the bars. The climax came when Pan climbed onto Qui’s shoulders, and they performed an aerial somersault together.

Of the group acts, perhaps the most intriguing was the Elegant Shimmering Plates on Bamboo Sticks. Five to six women and girls spun plates on six or eight sticks each, while contorting or tumbling at the same time. The act was capped by three plate-bearing women climbing onto breakaway platforms, which were shouldered and carried forward by another female performer.

The afternoon had something to astonish every audience member, young or old, and the crowd rewarded the troupe with an extended standing ovation at the end.

It wasn’t a bowl, but it sure was super.