What Stunts Can a Chinese Acrobat Do?
Chinese culture has a long and proud history of acrobatics, dating back to 200 years BC. Chinese acrobats focus less on high-flying stunts than those which require balance, strength and focus. Everyday objects such as jars and chairs are used in elaborate and inventive ways while other instruments such as poles and even knives are employed to accentuate already difficult stunts. While stunts inevitably become elaborate, they begin with a few basics.
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Headstands
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Many Chinese acrobatic stunts begin with a relatively simple headstand, which literally means an acrobat stands on his head. In this position Chinese acrobatic stunts include one acrobat walking across the stage while another is positioned in a headstand on top of the first acrobat's head. This position makes the two literally head-to-head, remaining in a headstand on another acrobat's extended legs and then being launched to another position, including the legs of another acrobat and even jumping up and ascending a series of small platforms, all while standing only on the top of the head.
Leg Tricks
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Many of the most known and identifiable Chinese acrobatic stunts involve leg strength. Acrobats will often use their legs as a support platform during other tricks, including headstands, backflips and stacking. As well, Chinese acrobats use their legs to balance, spin and even juggle different objects. One favorite but relatively simple stunt involves the acrobat using her legs to flip a large jar end-over-end in a controlled spin. Other objects such as chairs, vases and plates balanced on sticks are also held, stacked or spun in control by the acrobat's legs.
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Stacking
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Chinese acrobats are noted for inventive and precise acts of stacking. In addition to the more typical human pyramid, Chinese acrobats are noted for doing handstands (or headstands) on chairs, with another acrobat balancing on top of the first acrobat, or using a different chair stacked on top of the first to suspend both. Oftentimes the acrobats stack a number of objects in a series, first finding the ideal way to balance the objects so they may stand freely, while also supporting the next object, and then having an acrobat balance in a handstand at the very top of that stack. A very basic version of such a stunt includes a few acrobats standing on top of each other stacking a number of chairs, typically leaning back, and another acrobat climbing up the tilting chairs to do a handstand for an extended period. The acrobat typically ends the stunt by leaning or launching off the top of the chairs to be caught by another acrobat still standing on other acrobats or another series of stack objects.
Pole Stands
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Another common setup that allows for elaboration requires the acrobat to balance on the end of freestanding poles. The acrobats then perform a number of tricks on the top of the pole, including juggling knives, jumping across to other poles or balancing and stacking other objects on the end of that pole. Occasionally the pole itself is placed on top of another acrobat's head while the pole stand is performed.
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