CityLife

Chinese State Circus

The Lowry, Salford Quays

February 18, 2012

With Shaolin Warriors, spectacular acrobatics, dancing lions and even ballet the Chinese State Circus is not short of jaw-dropping moments.

Steeped in 2,000 years of history and tradition, updated for the 21st century with plenty of lights and music, Chinese acrobatic troupes tour more than 100 different countries showing off their skills.

Acts of breathtaking complexity on display at The Lowry show included hat juggling, diabolo performers, and plate spinning. This mesmerising performance included women balancing eight spinning plates on long poles each while they performed feats such as standing on each other's shoulders. And heads.

There were also displays of incredible physical strength, including an acrobatic ballet display called Oriental Swan, which involved a woman standing en pointe on a man's shoulders. And head.

The performers are so strong and graceful it's as though they weigh nothing, and they fly through the air as if supported by invisible wires.

As I can't even so much as touch my own toes I am always extremely impressed when someone does a backflip, but the acrobats of the Chinese State Circus make ordinary backflips look positively mundane.

This was most impressively demonstrated during the hoop diving act, during which the whole audience seemed to hold its breath as the acrobats leapt, dived and flipped their way through increasingly high – and small – hoops.

The Shaolin Warriors demonstrated their legendary strength, breaking wooden poles, metal rods, bricks and concrete blocks across their bodies without any sign of injury, prompting gasps and the occasional wince from the audience. 

The acts were strung together by live musicians and the monkey king, who provided the clowning element of the circus including some audience participation by four slightly reluctant – but game – men pulled up onto the stage by the mischievous character.

This really is a show with something for everyone. There were plenty of children in the audience along with their grandparents – and all came out with a smile on their face.

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