Quincy Civic Music Association
McNay Trucking Corporation
Marion Gardner Jackson Charitable Trust
Noon Kiwanis
present
Direct from Beijing, P.R. of China
A COLUMBIA ARTISTS PRODUCTION
Andrew S. Grossman, Producer
The National Acrobats of the People’s Republic of China
Introducing the Cirque Beijing
Beijing, the capital of the People’s Republic of China, is a famous historical and cultural city with a history spanning 1,000 years and a wealth of precious Chinese cultural heritage sites including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. Acrobatic art, Chinese circus, and traditional Beijing Opera are Chinese cultural treasures that are beloved of the people of Beijing. These art forms combine music, acrobatics, performance, mime, and dance and share many similarities with Western culture. Foreign tourists walking along the streets or strolling through city parks often hear local residents singing beautiful Beijing Opera or see them playing diabolo or performing acrobatics. In tantalizing samples of the amazing athleticism of Chinese circus and Peking Opera, this performance invites audiences into an artistic world full of history and wonder.
Morrison Auditorium Quincy, Illinois
October 9, 2014 7:30p.m.
Funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, the city of Quincy, and the businesses and individual members of the Quincy Society of Fine Arts.
National Acrobats and Circus of the People’s Republic of China
Program
1. Prelude: The Company.
2. Drums Girls: Drum juggling with feet.
3. Kicking Bowls on Unicycles: Kicking bowls while right foot controls unicycle balance.
4. Russian Bar: Flipping and jumping on bars shouldered by two strong men.
5. Solo Contortion: One of the four basic traditional acrobatic skills.
6. Diabolo Girls: Imperial palace köngzhú yo-yo game, updated in 1906 and called diabolo .
7. High Chairs: Tricks on the 4th and 8th of stacked up chairs.
8. Grand Hoop-diving: Somersaults and twists past hoops.
INTERMISSION (15-20 minutes)
9. Group Lasso: Traditional Chinese rope tricks.
10. Little Lions: Little girls perform as lions with a hat-juggling clown.
11. Pole: Acrobatics on a pole.
12. Pagoda of Bowls: Hand stands, flips, and contortion with spinning plates and bowls.
13. Balancing Duo: Contrast of strength and suppleness.
14. Grand Acrobatics: Chinese acrobatics, traditional martial arts, contortion and gymnastics.
15. Finale: The Company.
Encores or Substitutions:
1、Aerial Silk Balancing- combining silk streamers and trapeze
2、Adagio of Strength-hand stands and feats of balance and strength
3、Foot-juggling with Umbrellas- juggling as many as 5 umbrellas
Introducing Chinese Opera
Opera comes from deepest human emotion welling up through channels of speech, music, art, and gesture that unite in grand dramatic expression. The oldest formalized expressions of this impulse were Greek drama in the West and opera of the Indian Sanskrit and Chinese traditions in the East. All 3 of these dramatic forms grew out of ritual ceremonies, with the dance element combining religious gesture and stylized combat exercises. Echoing this pairing centuries later, European ballet also began as formalized Italian footwork training for fencing.
There are several distinct cultural types of Chinese opera; but, the most widely known is Beijing Opera (formerly known as Peking Opera). Spectacular costuming, scenery, and athletic movement characterize this form. The 4 artistic skills in which an opera performer trains are singing, dialogue delivery, dancing, and martial arts. Certain conventions require enhanced acrobatic skill as well. For example, balancing on chairs on a table can represent crossing bridges or mountains, and juggling twirling umbrellas can represent storms.
The T’ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) was a golden age in Chinese culture. During this time, the imperial court established the Pear Garden Academy, the Imperial Academy, and the T’ai-ch’ang Temple schools, which gathered top dancers from China, Korea, Sinkiang, India, Persia, and Central Asia as teachers and performers. Lavish ceremonial performances by these academies featured refined and acrobatic dancing of all sorts. They were the predecessors of Chinese opera. The athletic prowess and disciplined training of the academies has had an influence on modern performance art as well, whether it is in the amazing feats of Chinese gymnasts in the Olympics or the entertaining stunts of actors such as Bruce Lee, Jet Li, or Jackie Chan in Kung Fu movies. All were trained in the acrobatic techniques which define circus and are such a crucial part of Chinese opera.
The following Notes are based on material from the Cirque Beijing website at www.cami.com
The Company
The National Circus and Acrobats of the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1953, making it one of the longest running and most distinguished circus troupes in China. The Company is especially acclaimed in China because of the unique nature of its program including such features as Great Teeterboard, Grand Flying Trapeze, Group Contortion, Straw Hats Juggling, and Girls Balance With Bowls. The Company has won over twenty Gold and Silver medals and various other awards at international circus festivals including the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival and the China National Acrobatic Competition.
The Company’s decision to change the concept of the “animal circus” into a new style of “non-animal circus” in the 1980’s had a profound impact on the world’s circus society. It also influenced the then pioneers of Cirque du Soleil, who invited coaches from the Company to teach them acts such as Balancing Chairs, Bicycle, and Chinese Poles. The result of this collaboration was Cirque du Soleil’s revolutionary program Circus Reinvented!.
Company tours have reached eighty countries around the world. In Fall of 1988, the Company flew to Seattle for a three month tour of Canada and the U.S., bringing with them a Giant Panda who traveled to North America and back home again in the first-class cabin of the tour’s airplane—a feat which required removing all first-class passenger seats! The Company’s Flying Trapeze troupe performed by invitation in the United States with Ringling and Barnum & Bailey Bros. Circus Companies in 1999 and UniverSoul Circus in 2007.
History of the Chinese Circus
The origin of the Chinese circus is something of a debate. However, what is clear is that it is an ancient art. First records date back over 2000 years to the Qin Dynasty (225-207BC) when China was unified by the First Emperor Qi Shi Huang. It is believed that the art actually started about 3000 years ago.
Some believe that the circus evolved from the mannerisms of Imperial court performers, similar to court jester antics in Medieval Europe. At first, performances tended to be quite formal and staid; but when the absorption of the acrobatic folk art of the people became popular with the ruling classes, liveliness became the expected norm adopted by the imperial houses . The ancient Chinese called the circus “the show of a hundred tricks.”
As in Europe, families became involved in the circus, with family traditions and skills being passed from generation to generation. The most famous circus families were very well known. Following many years of decline because of war, the circus received a boost in 1949 from the government of the People’s Republic of China to preserve it as a national art form.
Today, there are over 200 circus and acrobatic troupes in China, most having toured around the world. Acrobats in Chinese circus troupes are regarded with respect and admiration. Training begins as early as four years old, although specific training with a troupe begins by the age of eight. Basic training—balancing, tumbling, dancing, flexibility and strength—is given in the first years. Although some children can perform at early ages, normally performers start their careers in their mid-teens.
There are many classical circus acts involving trained animals; but after 1949, Chinese circus troupes all developed into non-animal performing companies concentrating on developing human performing acts. Particular to Chinese circus is the dancing lions routine, suggesting the former animal presence, but in fact rooted in Buddhism. The lion is a Buddhist symbol of good fortune, and rivals the dragon as the most auspicious animal to guard against evil. The lion is also the animal depicted in Buddhism as the carrier of wisdom. In Chinese traditional stories, the Jade Emperor orders the lion to rid the world of evil spirits and then asks it to stay in the world to keep them at bay. The lion dance in today’s performance is a display of balance, co-ordination and strength combined into one. The ease with which the two acrobats within the lion’s costume perform as one belies the difficulty of the act.
Courtesy Considerations
Programs and artists subject to change without notice.
Please honor professional standards. The photographing or sound recording of this program is prohibited. Please turn off all cell phones, beepers, and electronic devices.
Upon presenting their season tickets at the ticket table, members of the Hannibal Concert Association and the Keokuk Concert Association will be admitted to Quincy Civic Music Association concerts, free to one concert and half price to any of the others. Single event ticket holders may upgrade to season tickets and enjoy all QCMA concerts as well as the fine musical offerings of our reciprocity partners.
Youngsters who find that sitting quietly has become uncomfortable are welcome to go to the lobby with their parents to move around and regain composure before coming back to enjoy the performance.