Think you’ve had a hard day? Try forcing your entire body weight, via your neck, against two spearheads, and then have a friend smash a concrete slab against your back with a mallet. Doesn’t sound pleasant does it? But it’s all in a days work for the Wu-Shu Shaolin warriors at the Chinese State Circus.
The spectacular Chinese Circus performance began with the introduction of our MC for the evening. The Monkey King, as he called himself, reminded me of a colourful mime artist, dancing in time with the atmospheric drum beat whilst the excited crowd anticipated the first act. We were not to be disappointed. A flurry of acrobats tumbled, rolled and flipped their way into the ring, setting the standard for the rest of the show. Balancing fifteen foot high wooden poles decorated as Chinese lanterns, the performers moved effortlessly from standing to rolling and balancing positions. They even leapt their way onto one another’s shoulders as casually as a cat leaping to the top of a high wall. As the acrobats continued to effortlessly twirl and toss these giant ornaments like batons, the crowd began to excitedly anticipate the next act. But before we knew it the same acrobats had disappeared backstage, only to reappear in new costumes displaying the equally impressive gravity defying hoop diving act.
As the neon – orange coloured flash of robes appeared onto the stage, a sense of nervousness took over me. Having seen such martial arts acts before on television, I knew that these guys did not do things by half. Leaping and flying across the ring, the Wu-Shu Shaolin warriors displayed amazing sword fighting and body movements of great skill and precision. The level of the physical and mental endurance tolerated by the warriors was displayed by their most extreme acts. And I don’t mean the smashing of bricks over the head. Nor the karate chopping of solid wood by bare hands. But the sandwiching of two warriors between six sword blades and a bed of nails, only to be followed by the smashing of concrete over the bodies of what seemed to resemble a torture demonstration. The philosophy of the highly trained warriors relies on their refusal to accept any physical pain, achieved through deep meditation. They believe that the inner spirit controls the body and level of pain tolerated.
However the show was not just about displays of amazing physical ability, but beautiful visuals too. The golden fingered Bodhisattva dancers were resonant of ancient oriental traditional dancers, whilst beautiful geisha-like women performed mysterious scenes from Peking opera. Even the high wire acrobats gracefully held ornamental Chinese parasols throughout their performance. The bright gold and red Chinese dragons, a symbol of good fortune, danced playfully on and off stage between acts and performed their own delightful piece demonstrating grace and balance whilst rolling along on giant balls, much to the audience’s joy.
As if all of this wasn’t enough, the show’s line up also boasted Jar Juggling, The Happy Cooks – China’s very own talented clowns, a Yin and Yang slack wire balancing act, the double pole climbers, a beautiful contortionist named The Human Candelabra and the spellbinding mystery of A Hundred Faces.
The sheer physical strength of the acrobats, the supreme mental stamina of the Shaolin warriors, the grace and majesty of the more ornate and traditional Chinese acts and the overall attention to detail made the two hour performance fly by in a breathtaking flash.
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