New Shanghai Circus brings exotic acrobatics to Cullman (with video)
Published 5:30 am Tuesday, March 10, 2015
- The New Shanghai Circus will perform March 17 at the Betty Leeth Haynes Theatre on the campus of Wallace State Community College.
Want to have your mind blown? Check out the acrobats of the New Shanghai Circus. From Broadway to Branson — and for one night this week, in Cullman — the troupe awes people with an incredible repertoire of physical performance set pieces that put the audience’s nerve to the test.
Sound like hyperbole? Not to The New York Times. “They know they’re good — no need to posture,” confessed their theater critic. The Los Angeles Times was equally amazed, describing the show as a series of “show-stopping rarities of daunting difficulty.”
It’s not only the critics — just check out tripadvisor.com, where everyday theatergoers rave almost unanimously about the company’s permanent Branson-based show.
For all the gushing reviews, words may temporarily fail you if you’re fortunate enough to catch them in person. And you’ll be able to do exactly that this Thursday, when the New Shanghai Circus takes the stage at Wallace State College in Hanceville. The scale and spectacle of the event makes for a fitting closeout to the Cullman Community Concert Association’s 2014-2015 performance season.
“The past couple of years, we’ve sort of gotten into a rhythm of ending our season with some pretty big fireworks,” said concert board president Kathy Scruggs. “Last year we finished the season with an incredible performance by the New York Theatre Ballet, which drew tremendous interest and support and participation from the local community.
“Bringing the New Shanghai Circus as our final show of the season this year is a way to give people another extravaganza type of performance; one of those events that makes use of the whole stage and kind of puts people under a spell for a couple of hours. It’s pretty much impossible to be distracted by what’s going on in the outside world while this show is underway.”
Although the New Shanghai Circus continues to introduce new pairings of physical feats with modern music and themes, it is working in a field steeped in Chinese tradition.
Performance acrobatics in China developed more than two millennia ago during the Han dynasty as a way for farmers and craftsmen, often left idle during the winter months, to improve their social standing by cultivating an artistic skill. Using household items as props — dishes, chairs, tables — they practiced during their off-season downtime and incorporated their evolving art into the harvest celebrations that took place each year.
The modern incarnation of the style features much more pageantry, while continually innovating exotic ways for succeeding generations of performers to train their bodies to balance, contort and defy gravity. “The performers make it look so effortless,” said Scruggs, “but what they’re doing is really unbelievable.”
The New Shanghai Circus will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17 at the Betty Leeth Haynes Theatre on the campus of Wallace State Community College. Tickets at the door are $30 for adults. Students with a valid ID can purchase tickets for $10. For directions and concert season information, visit www.cullmancommunityconcertassociation.com
What: The New Shanghai Circus
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17
Where: The Betty Leeth Haynes Theatre on the campus of Wallace State Community College.
Cost: Tickets at the door are $30 for adults. Students with a valid ID can purchase tickets for $10.
More info: For directions and concert season information, visit www.cullmancommunityconcertassociation.com.
