Recently premiered acrobatic show promises to wow audiences with an injection of visual upgrades, theatricality and storytelling, Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai.
A modern-day love story is set against a city landscape where the imagination of the audience is nourished by the scenery. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
The new Era 2 acrobatic show that started at Shanghai Circus World on July 31 features a slew of upgrades, including new visual projections, costume designs and stunts.
Jointly produced by Shanghai Media Group, China Art and Entertainment Group and Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe, Era has been performed 5,354 times between September 2005 and January 2020 to an audience of 5.25 million. The total box-office taking during this period was more than 650 million yuan (US$100.62 million).
The resident show has for years reflected the vibrancy of Shanghai culture, says Yu Yigang, director of Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe.
"It is time to polish this cultural brand of Shanghai and create a new acrobatic show for today's audiences from home and abroad," he says.
Era 2 features a story that revolves around a young man's encounter with a kind-hearted woman who lends him an umbrella on a rainy day. The show depicts his adventurous search for the mysterious young woman in Shanghai and culminates when the two young people are reunited for a romantic dance on a giant iron ring.
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Alain M. Pacherie, founding director of the French Phoenix Circus, was invited to direct Era 2 in Shanghai.
He says in a video message:"Shanghai is an extraordinary city where the past, the present and the future converge and keep generating new experiences. It is also a marvelous source of inspiration: Its blocks, parks, plazas and streets have offered us on our every visit something to nourish our imagination. We wish to explore the kaleidoscopic colors of the city just like the spectacular reflection of the city on the street after the rain."
A modern-day love story is set against a city landscape where the imagination of the audience is nourished by the scenery. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Era was first created in 2005 when SMG Live, CAEG and Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe came together to produce "an innovation initiative aimed at tapping the growing market for performing arts", Yu says.
A production that targeted international audiences, it featured the essence of Chinese acrobatics and combined it with arrangements, designs and music tailor-made for overseas viewers.
"It is a show in which you not only see breathtaking stunts, but also experience the unique culture of Shanghai and China," Yu says.
In the past 15 years, overseas tourists formed 70 percent of the Era audience and 30 percent included business visitors and tourists from other parts of China. The new edition, Era 2, Yu says, hopes to attract more Chinese viewers.
"It's not that domestic audiences do not like circus or acrobatics, we just have to create good shows to lure them in," he says.
The Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe is a State-owned outfit that was founded in 1951. Despite its name, the troupe also does magic, comedy and circus acts by animals. The troupe has won many accolades since its inception, including the first prize at Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, the Gold K Award at the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival for Youth and the first prize in the International Magic Exchange Conference organized by the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Era also won an innovation award from China's Ministry of Culture in 2007. Highlight acts in the show were conferred the Golden Clown Award at the 36th and 42nd Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival.
"Since the premiere of Era, the world of live entertainment has come a long way," says Yu, noting that the most important development in the industry is that shows have become more theatrical.
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"In the past, our performers just had to focus on accomplishing the act flawlessly, but now they need to engage the audience, play a convincing role, and make people really love them," he adds.
A modern-day love story is set against a city landscape where the imagination of the audience is nourished by the scenery. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
To achieve this, the troupe occasionally invites professional theater actors to train its performers. In 2018, the company created a new circus production Dawn of Shanghai, which is based on the story of the army led by the Communist Party of China taking over Shanghai in 1949 and fighting against remnants of the Kuomintang that were attempting to sabotage the main power plant in the city. The show was the opening performance of China Shanghai International Arts Festival in 2019.
"It was a circus production with a solid story," Yu says. "The production was successful, and our team gained great experience from the creating process."
Among the performers of this milestone show was Zhang Hongyuan, who says theatricality has always been the biggest challenge for him.
"I am confident of performing every flip, twist and aerial movement. I have no fear on a 6-meter pole," he says. "But in building emotional connections with the audience and really touching their hearts, I still have much room for improvement."
Zhang says the experience of being part of Dawn of Shanghai was inspiring and it helped those involved better prepare for Era 2.
To make the show more exciting for viewers and more challenging for performers, Era 2 has introduced animal performances, with seven doves performing alongside aerial dancer Meng Lili. The combination of acrobatics with animal acts is unprecedented in China.
The 35-year-old acrobat, who can be seen dancing from an iron loop suspended 10 meters in the air in Era 2, has been with the company since she was 17. "I have been training with doves for six years, because we wanted to show something no one else had done before in the upgraded Era," Meng says.
In her act, Meng masterfully commands the doves as if she is one of them, and the creatures respond by flying around her before gracefully landing on her arms and feet.
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"You need lots of patience with these beautiful birds. They will not fly when their wings feel heavy because of high humidity or bad pollution, or when they are not feeling well or simply having a bad day," she says.
"I used to take one of them home with me to strengthen the bond between us, so that it could trust me, answer my call and settle comfortably on my body."
Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn
