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Ultimate dexterity

Chinese acrobats have made their mark in the Olympics over the years with their mastery of flexibility. Delhiites got to witness such an awe-inspiring show on Chinese acrobatics, as celebrating the Chinese New Year, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, had organised an acrobatic show at the FICCI on Thursday evening in the national Capital. 

The show was programmed by Gansu Province Acrobatic Troupe, China with 20 young members showcasing a blend of beauty, strength and skill. 

The purpose of the event was to experience India with Chinese culture of acrobatics, and strengthen bilateral cultural cooperation between the two countries. 

The event was inaugurated by his Excellency Le Yuchen, Chinese Ambassador to India. The performance was attended by Zhang Zhihong, Cultural Counsellor, Embassy of China, Mohammed Saqib, Secretary General, India China Economic and Cultural Council, who thanked everyone for bringing the two nations close through similar cultural evenings in the coming five years. 

Prof Lokesh Chandra, India Council for Cultural Relations and Dr Aruna Sharma, Secretary- Economics and IT, Ministry of Communications and IT  were also present at the event.

The Chinese Lunar New Year is also the Year of Monkey, and to extend their greetings, Zhang Zhihong wished tocelebrate their auspicious festival here at the Capital, with a very colourful performance.

The acrobatics show included Group Martial Arts, Whipping Skill, Slipping into Buckets, Small Balance Boards, Handplant, Burlesque show, Rolling Lamp, Straw Hats, Lifting Jars, Lifting Skill, Kicking bowls, Contortion and Rolling Hoops.

Group Martial Arts is mainly a show of group coordination and balance. Followed by this was a thrilling performance of Whipping Skill, were the perfomer split a newspaper in half, and with every blow of the three-metre long whip the half of the split paper was halved over and again until it was too small to hold! The Whipping Skill also involved the performer separating roses from their stems and putting out a burning cigarette from a person’s mouth.

The third performance was rather cute, as three children of 11 to 12 years slipped into buckets of 40 cm diameter and displayed their flexibility to the audience. Small balance boards had two performers showing their delicate balancing skills on a small board and skipping and balancing bowls on the head.

Handplant was a perfect combination of beauty and strength where one of the performers balanced herself on a two-metre high pole and danced to a soothing tune, while the others displayed their gymnastic skills complementing the centre performer. 

The Burlesque show had been the most happening show of the evening, when a performer dressed as a clown distributed balloons of various shapes and sizes to the audience and juggled colourful rings. Children from all over the auditorium gathered in front of the stage to grab one.

Another very intense show was Rolling Lamps, where a girl balanced several burning candles placed on stands on her feet, palms, forehead and mouth, all at once! Lifting Jars is a performance that demands extensive strength and balance. 

The performer lifted, rotated and played around with jars weighing more that 20 kilograms on his head and fists. Kicking bowls, had a young boy skipping while balancing on a one-wheel bicycle and kicking blows and balancing them on his head. 

Contortion draws inspiration from the dance gesture of Dunhuang Grotto, it is a show of human body flexibility and beauty. The final performance was Rolling Hoops, where boys passed through hoops of different sizes and created various patterns.

The extravagant show ended on a happy note as the performers received a standing ovation from the audience, who seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the show.
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