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The Oldest Performance Art in China
The "Complete Set of Martial Arts Routines" is perhaps a typical item of
traditional Chinese acrobatics that combines great physical strength and nimble
somersaults. Acrobats in the performance sometimes resemble fish swimming
effortlessly in the water, sometimes like swallows drafting through trees and
other times like butterflies dancing gracefully among flowers. Related acts
fully demonstrate the skills of combining physical strength and somersaults to
perfection.
Sixth, Chinese acrobatics, an art form closely related to people's production
and daily-life activities, uses labor tools and objects as props, including
bowls, plates, jars, cups, ropes, whips, poles, ladders, tables, chairs,
umbrellas, and hats. Some items are based on production activities, folk games,
and sports such as lassoing horses or cattle, driving carts, and skipping rope.
Seventh, Chinese acrobatics employs a number of beautiful traditional
handicrafts as stage props, including porcelain jars and plates decorated with
colorful designs of dragons and phoenixes, and tastefully patterned silk
umbrellas and rugs. Related props not only make the performance more appealing,
but also display the beauty of traditional Chinese handicrafts.
Eighth, Chinese acrobatics is noted for its flexibility in terms of the size
of performance venues and the number of performers. Performances can be staged
in squares and theaters, on the streets, and even in small living rooms. The
number of performers required can vary from a single person to as many as 100
people. The great flexibility of Chinese acrobatics has enabled the art form to
mature and develop a fine tradition through the ages.
Finally, Chinese acrobatics has maintained a strict master-apprentice system
and has been closely related to other forms of the performing arts. Chinese
acrobatics is an art that was handed down from one generation of a family to
another, as well as from master to apprentice. Some Chinese localities are
celebrated for acrobatics. For example, Wuqiao
County in North China's Hebei
Province is often referred to as the "home of Chinese acrobatics."
Acrobats have long respected their masters and loved their profession. They
have done their best to preserve the art learned from masters and hand their
skills down to younger generations. Acrobats in the old society led miserable
lives, but never treated their profession lightly. Instead, they managed to pass
their skills onto the right people and would rather die of hunger than pass
their skills onto an outsider in a rash moment.
Acrobatic performances through the ages have incorporated the many strong
points of other performing arts such as traditional opera, dance, and martial
arts, and have in return provided the latter with
inspiration.
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