Theater Arts: Acrobatics
Theater Arts: Acrobatics
Styles. During the prosperous Tang period (618-907) many styles of acrobatics appeared, including tightrope walking, pole climbing, horseback acrobatics, mock sword fighting, sword swallowing, fire breathing, and juggling pieces of jade. Some acrobats were also magicians or circus performers with trained monkeys, horses, rhinoceroses, and elephants. Tang acrobatic programs were often an integral part of dance and music shows. Members of ethnic minori-ties brought new skills to such shows. For example, a Tibetan was able to lie naked on the sharp points of two upright swords. During the Song dynasty (960-1125) military acrobatics were developed. Two of the ten Song armies, the “Left Army” and the “Right Army,” were primarily acrobats who raised money and provisions through their public performances. To demonstrate their benevolence, Song emperors announced amnesties every year, and acrobatic shows were considered an essential part of such ceremonies. To the repertoire they inherited from earlier performers, Song-era acrobats added new elements such as the “mute variety play,” which included acrobatics and vocal imitations of hundreds of birdcalls. Song-period acrobatics were mingled with dancing, music, and the folk performances known as genre shows. The newly invented gunpowder increased the effectiveness of magic shows. Song circuses included small trained animals such as fish, turtles, birds, bees, butterflies, crickets, and ants. During the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) ordinary people were for-bidden to carry any kind of weapon, though swords and knives were allowed as stage props. Because swords and other weapons were essential to several kinds of acrobatic acts, many acrobats became dramatic performers, and acrobatics began to be absorbed into drama.
Sources
Cai Yuanli and Wu Wenke, Zhongguo Quyishi (Beijing: Culture and Arts Press, 1998).
Liu Junxiang, Zhongguo Zajishi (Beijing: Culture and Arts Press, 1998).
Wang Kefen, ed., Zhongguo gudai wudao shihua (Beijing: People’s Music Press, 1998).
Wang Ningning, Jiang Dong, and Du Xiaoqing, Zhongguo wudaoshi (Beijing: Culture and Arts Press, 1998).