Dalian acrobatics to hit stage in Europe

One of China's premier acrobatics troupes is about to embark on a three-month European tour, aiming to entertain audiences and strengthen cultural exchanges.

Dalian Acrobatic Troupe, based in Dalian, Liaoning province, will make its first stop in Paris on Nov 25.

"We will tour France, Switzerland and Belgium from November to February, featuring no less than 70 performances," said Yang Jiansheng, head of the troupe. The delegation will consist of 39 members.

Collaborating with a French performance company, they've produced a sports-themed acrobatic show, highlighting the troupe's masterpieces, including Meteor, which won the gold medal at the 40th World Festival of the Circus of Tomorrow in Paris in 2019.

"The superb skills of the performers of the troupe and the amazing Meteor have proved their strength. It is an important reason for this cooperation," said Alain Pacherie, head of Cirque Phenix and the World Festival of the Circus of Tomorrow.

Mi Lu, a partner of Cirque Phenix in China, said this is the ninth Chinese acrobatic show held with the circus in the past 25 years.

"Dalian Acrobatic Troupe is outstanding among many Chinese acrobatic troupes. I know it very well, and that's why I recommended it this time," said Mi, who has cooperated with Cirque Phenix on the previous eight shows.

Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-French relations and has been designated as the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Dalian Cultural Industry Group aims to foster international cultural exchanges and cooperation in the performing arts by leveraging the city's cultural assets, including the acrobatic troupe.

Yang, who is also a national first-class artistic director, said that the troupe specially created the show to combine Chinese culture and elements of Dalian by integrating culture, sports and acrobatics to present traditional Chinese acrobatic arts in a way that caters to the local audience's appreciation.

"We hope that we can showcase China's excellent acrobatic art to overseas audiences, as well as introduce the beautiful port city of Dalian to the world and invite European friends to visit," Yang said.

Zhang Rongrong, art director of the group, commended it for its contributions to China's cultural exchange initiatives.

"Having performed in nearly 100 countries, it has garnered widespread acclaim worldwide," she said.

Zhang emphasized that the group is committed to further expanding into overseas markets and adopting a market-oriented approach in program selection.

"This will involve increasing cultural exchanges, exporting performances abroad and introducing high-quality productions from around the world to Dalian to enrich the cultural life of local residents and invigorate the city's art scene," Zhang said.

In recent years, many Chinese acrobatic troupes have performed overseas.

The Hunan Circus Troupe, which is based in Changsha, Hunan province, has been touring in Spain since July. They are scheduled to perform the original acrobatic drama Dream Journey more than 140 times in nearly 50 cities until December.

According to Hunan news outlet Rednet.cn, the troupe has performed more than 800 shows overseas to a combined audience of over 1 million people, traveling to more than 300 cities in over 20 countries.