Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats provide pageantry, thrills

ORONO – A regular feature throughout the Maine Center for the Arts’ history has been the amazing feats brought to this country by touring companies of Chinese acrobats.

The Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats, who performed Saturday night, provided more of these anticipated pageantry and thrills. While American circuses feature some similar skills, such as juggling and trapeze, the Chinese offer something more – a sense of wonder.

What else is there to think about a woman who can lie on her back and balance 10 lanterns: two on her feet, two on her hands, six on a specially constructed stand clenched between her teeth? That feat was incredible enough, but then she rolled over to her front, while keeping all the lanterns upright.

The opening number featuring the 12-member cast gave a taste of things to come: brightly costumed women dancing and waving flowing ribbons, men making tumbling passes, a woman riding a unicycle atop an umbrella spun by a male performer. Then there were the two frolicking lions (actually two men in each suit), who dived, pranced and climbed about the stage.

After watching troupes of men doing prodigious feats of strength and agility on the double poles and the straps, it’s no surprise that Chinese gymnasts are always among the best in the world.

The “Kung Fu Surprise” certainly was that. Two male performers stood at either end of a double-headed spear, points at neck level, then leaned in, the spear bending. Another spun around, wrapping a metal rod around his neck, then unwrapping it. One broke bricks with his forehead; another sat braced as bricks were smashed atop his head with a sledgehammer.

Also in the troupe were the comic relief, two men dressed in red, whose tomfoolery belied their skills. In one skit, a drafted volunteer was brought up from the audience, and a bag was put over his head. The “knifethrower” would shout before his “throw,” and his assistant would stick a knife into the stand behind the volunteer. This culminated with a balloon placed between the volunteer’s legs being popped, again by hand, not by throw.

After two hours of such wonderment, is it any surprise that the crowd of 1,500 gave the acrobats a standing ovation? After all, the Shangri-La troupe unveiled an artistry rare but very appreciated on a cold Maine evening, and it warmed all snuggled inside the Hutchins Concert Hall.