The Acrobatic Swan Lake, a fusion of Western classical ballet and Chinese acrobatic arts, performed by the Xion Acrobatic troupe, is more acrobatic than balletic. The production lacks narrative drive and the evil Black Hawk King is not given enough to do and has insufficient dramatic clout.
But I very much doubt audiences, who have come for the acrobatics, will be bothered that the story is emotionally uninvolving. The staging itself, a thing of beauty and strength, is sufficiently thrilling and exciting in its own right to please all age groups.
Zhang Quan is the artistic director and choreographer. The cast, headed by Sun Yina and Zhou Jie, perform astonishingly difficult and seemingly impossible physical feats. The show is a breathtaking experience.
Tchaikovsky’s familiar music, cut, re-arranged and pre-recorded, is played very loudly and sounds absolutely awful; but the very circus vulgarity galvanizes performers and audiences alike.
Jugglers never stop juggling an incredible number of balls and an equally incredible number of hats. Aerial hoops are skillfully managed in a daredevil manner. The whole female corps, colourfully costumed, line up in one long line right across the stage and constantly exchange Panama hats at speed with military precision.
There is some extraordinary horizontal back and shoulder balancing and some equally extraordinary exquisite contortions held in statuesque slow motion. Comedy is provided by four agile frogs who dance up and down on their hands.
Swan ladies, dressed in beautiful white ball gowns, glide elegantly across the stage, forming lovely tableaux. Their roller skates are totally hidden under their gowns
The most amazing and truly jaw-dropping feat is left for the finale. Sun Yina firstly arabesques on Zhou Jie’s shoulder and she then goes on to stand on one leg on pointe on his head. WOW! Two strongmen standby, should she fall. OMG!
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