When life is a balancing act

MANILA, Philippines - While most kids are busy saving up for or persistently hounding their parents for an Ipad, Yu Wanxin is busy listening to her i-pod but curiously not dancing to a techno beat. Instead, she is practicing every step of her forthcoming acrobatic performance in her head while her hands move about in precise moves. Li Yi is only 13 but she displays the maturity and passion beyond her years. “Salon” or “small dragon” looks like a regular teenage boy who is into ball sports, but instead is feverishly juggling balls and spinning them into an incredible and perfect rhythm.

These youngsters are just three of the 52 members of the Grand China National Acrobatics Troupe who are in town for a series of performances at the world-famous venue, Araneta Coliseum.

Huang Bin, deputy director of the troupe, says that the young Chinese acrobats live like one family. With ages ranging from eight to 20, these 31 boys and 21 girls have performed before millions of audiences across more than 100 countries, which is probably why their composure before awestruck audiences is amazing.

From the looks of it, the life of an acrobat is not easy. At a tender age of eight, these young boys and girls are thrust into a whirlwind of endless rehearsals, dance and limbering training, private tutoring and traveling from one country to another. Their days start at dawn with acrobatic practice. This is followed by academic lessons done by a private tutor, and capped by more practice in the afternoon to early evening. Bin enthuses that leading an acrobat’s life is very much like training for the Olympics. The passion and discipline are pretty much of the same magnitude.

Still, life as a young acrobat can be interesting. There are certain couples in the group. In fact, Huang Bin says that some members in the group have married and had families of their own. The acrobats engage into dance classes, Internet sessions, love to go shopping in every new city they find themselves in, sing, party and other “regular” stuff that kids their age get into. But all these are set aside, when the need to perfect their act beckons.

Add to the eye-popping body-bending, twisting, high-flying artistry, the young acrobats also have to learn to live harmoniously with each other. These kids look after each other. They get into the usual teenage spats but they make sure that this does not get in the way of their performances. Otherwise, uncontrolled emotions that can result into a miscalculated move can most certainly affect their acts and may even cause injury to another.

Homesickness is staved off when the acrobats’ families visit. This is apart from the one to two months off when the acrobats get to stay with their families. The curious thing, Bin noticed, is that sometimes, the young performers say they miss their troupe when they are with their respective biological families.

But for the youngsters, the personal sacrifice is all worth it. In China, acrobats have gained a certain stature and prestige. This is evidenced by the hordes that come to audition whenever there is a vacancy in the troupe. Some members of the troupe have likewise achieved celebrity status. One of the more famous of them who have achieved great popularity is Shao Bao Liang. She started in the troupe when she was eight, won acrobatic festivals in France, bagged the highest prize ever won by a Chinese singer at the music festival, the Golden Stag. Liang was also cast in Justin Timberlake’s N’Sync music video that was shown in the group’s live concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Liang also appeared on the Jerry Lewis Telethon and was saluted as the “young star of tomorrow” in 2004.

I watched the young acrobats’ performance during the press night. For a first-time viewing of Araneta’s Splendide: Grand China National Acrobatics Show, it was definitely spectacular, and packed with a variety of performance types and intense entertainment value. As I left the Big Dome, I felt a great appreciation not only for the awesome menagerie of somersaults and body contortions, but for the commitment of very young Chinese acrobats who have opted to have a life of balancing acts and passion. Their larger than life performances equal their large dreams and sacrifices.

Splendide: The Grand China National Acrobatics Circus runs at the Araneta Coliseum until Jan. 2, 2011. For details, call Ticketnet at 911-5555.