The stunning feats performed by The Peking Acrobats are more than just mystifying stunts of human daring. The breathtaking skill displayed by these Chinese athletes on stage is a means of sharing a time-honored tradition of artistry with the rest of the world.
"There's a debate on when it actually started, but [acrobatics] has been dated to about 3,000 years ago" in Chinese culture, shares Laura Goodwin, vice president of learning and engagement at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville.
FAQ
The Peking Acrobats
WHEN — 7 p.m. Feb. 25
WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville
COST — $15-$35; very limited tickets remain
INFO — 443-5600, waltonartscenter.org
FYI
Health Note
A note regarding recent news around the coronavirus: All members of The Peking Acrobats 2020 touring party have been in North America since late November 2019. No one has returned to China since that time, and no one is from Wuha or has been in contact with anyone from that region, the Walton Arts Center assures.
"Initially, these acts were used in common households. They were brought to the emperor at some point to entertain him, but many of these things evolved from daily household acts," Steve Hai adds.
Hai is the creative and artistic director for The Peking Acrobats -- an impressive troupe of performers and musicians who have been executing awe-inspiring maneuvers, alongside performances of traditional Chinese music, for more than three decades. They return to the Walton Arts Center Feb. 25, bringing some of their most beloved and memorable feats like trick-cycling, precision tumbling and, of course, their record-breaking human chair stack, among new additions and accompanied by a full Chinese orchestra.
"When we have Chinese acrobats on our season, that's so easy" to add to the Colgate Classroom Series, Goodwin says. The acrobats will give two sold-out education performances the morning of their visit to Fayetteville as children from some 17 school districts in the region fill Baum Walker Hall.
"It's nonverbal, so whether or not you've got a classroom full of English-speaking kids, you know that your children are going to enjoy it," Goodwin says. "Of course with acrobatics, you've got that whole visceral component that is cross-cultural; it's exciting and physical and a little bit scary, and always amazing. So we like to include acrobatics on our stage when we can for young people.
"The other thing that is really great is this performance will include music from China. They often include dragon puppets that are part of cultural festivals in China, too. So children really do get a sense of this ancient tradition in a country that many of them are just learning about."
Sharing arts with the community in this way -- making culturally and thematically diverse performance arts accessible to the community at all levels -- is literally the reason WAC exists, Goodwin asserts. The Peking Acrobats are the 12th show among the 85 performances in the current 2019-20 season's Classroom Series.
The WAC's arts and education initiatives are supported by fundraising events like AMP Fest, the Art of Wine Festival and the Masquerade Ball on Feb. 22, among others, and the programming has served more than 600,000 students and teachers since 2001.
"Walton Arts Center plays such a huge cultural role in Northwest Arkansas," Goodwin offers. "Whether it's Walton Arts Center, Crystal Bridges or the Amazeum, it's really, really important that every child, no matter what their family situation, feels this sense of belonging [in these cultural institutions] and has honest-to-goodness access to these programs. It's important to the cohesion of our community that we all experience this together."
"The performance is great for all ages," Hai confirms. "It's also a great show to come out and get away from all the electronic devices that are out there, which we all need sometimes."
NAN What's Up on 02/23/2020