True strength ... performers in ERA: Intersection of Time.
Briar Jensen witnesses stunning feats of contortion, acrobatics and trust at a circus in Shanghai.
GO INTO the garden and find the largest, heaviest pottery container you can, preferably glazed in a blue and white Ming design. It needs a circumference at least the size of your curved arms. Remove the pot plant - likely to be a small tree.
Now, assuming you can even lift the pot off the ground, try hurling it as high as you can above your head. Sound idiotic? Well, I'm not finished yet. After it has tumbled several metres into the air, catch it - on the back of your neck. Toss it again, using just your neck muscles. This time, catch it on your forehead, by one tiny part of the rim, then set it spinning until it becomes a whizzing blue blur.
Impossible? I'd have thought so too until I saw ERA: Intersection of Time at Shanghai Circus World.
I struggle to comprehend the strength, skill and precision required for this Ming fling feat, along with all the other acts of this 90-minute spectacular.
In the vein of Cirque de Soleil, ERA combines traditional Chinese acrobatics, dance and martial arts with state-of-the-art multimedia technology. The result is a riveting, contemporary acrobatic odyssey accompanied by live music.
The show starts with bodies unfolding gently inside a huge mesh cylinder; unfurled, they elongate, stretch and distend into incredulous positions - think single-handed handstand atop a narrow pedestal as it rises into the air.
Another act sees three muscle-rippling figures balance on intertwined limbs behind a curtain, to create a living shadow sculpture, which morphs seamlessly from one dramatic silhouette to another.
It's obvious these performers are not just dancers, acrobats and gymnasts - they're contortionists - but they make it look so simple, fluid and, well, normal.
As our tour guide explains afterwards, most of these performers were selected for their flexibility at about age three and sent to acrobatic boarding school, where their bodies were stretched - along with their minds. It's a huge sacrifice considering their careers peter out at about 22 but apparently they're rewarded with a better than average pension.
ERA is not just a show, it's an emotional theatrical journey, enhanced by innovative lighting, fog and holographic images.
It moves with such mind-boggling feats you'd think the Canadian choreographers were on drugs.
Well, nobody in their right mind would suggest someone balance on narrow boards - layered on wine glasses and rolling around on cylinders - while throwing bowls into the air and catching them on their head, while balancing on one leg. But that's exactly what they do.
OK, I'm being flippant but I'm stunned by the energy, power and courage of these artists, who tumble through multiple hoops, fly across the stage, flip on raised bamboo poles and bounce from bungie cords, shouting encouragement to each other as though it's one big party.
Two aerial lovers, tenuously bound together by touch, swirl in graceful circles around the stage, suspended from the ceiling by flowing white silk. Slowly, their bodies intertwine and unfurl, belying the phenomenal strength, stamina and mutual trust required. It's intimate and I later learn they are real-life lovers.
Like Shanghai itself, ERA is a fusion of both old and new China - it's surprising, complex and compelling, and definitely not to be missed. (And you'll never look at a Ming vase the same way again.)
The writer travelled courtesy of Helen Wong's Tours.
Trip notes
Getting there
China Eastern Airlines flies regularly to Shanghai. Helen Wong's Tours incorporates Shanghai Circus World in its premium China itineraries. helenwongstours.com
Staying there
Hua Ting Hotel & Towers, 1200 Cao Xi Bei Road, Shanghai. jinjianghotels.com
See + do
Shanghai Circus World has shows daily at 7.30pm. Tickets from 80 yuan ($13) to 580 yuan. era-shanghai.com
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