Today, Paul, Ibbi, Venice, and I made a last minute decision to go see the ERA show here in the city. ERA: The Intersection of Time, is quite similar to Cirque Du Soleil...amazing acrobatics, aerial walking, bowl balancing, trampoline stunts, high flying trapeze acts, and caged motorcycle riding. It's got some great multimedia, technology, lighting, sound effects, elaborate costumes, and live music. But, it is different in the fact that it brings together the vast history and culture of China into a portrayal of the country's past and future. It was really magnificent, all of the mastery and skill of the entire show. I'm very glad that we had the chance to go see it.
They did not allow pictures in the theater, but I tried to sneak as many as I could :-) Check some out below. I also strategically taped a video of some ring acrobatics during the show, but so far I have been unable to get the upload to work...
^^Motorcycle cage stunts...they fit a total of 8 motorcycles in that cage, it was wild.
^^This act was a very seductive and sensual combination of acrobatics and strength. A man and woman were hanging 20-40 feet in the air suspended by only two long pieces of fabric that they held with their legs/arms. No help from wires or anything, and the guy often held the girl by only his foot or head. It was very impressive.
^^In this act, they were doing all kinds of crazy flips on the trampoline, and then launching onto the long piece of bamboo on the left side being held up by two men. They would land on the wood and the men would lift it up and down to shoot them up flipping and spinning, then landing back down on the wood and going again. It was awesome.
^^Lots of crazy flips happening here. They launched off of teeter totters and onto a bamboo landing pad. The guy in black was like the 'ring master' of the whole show. He did some great pot/bowl balancing, as seen below. The funky wooden star shaped thing in his hand is some kind of Chinese boomerang. He threw towards the audience and it would fly around the entire theater and then land right back in his hand. I was blown away.
^^This was some kind of 'futuristic' spinning wheel that guys did flips throughout.
^^These were the guys doing the flips in the wheel.
^^Wild contortionists stacking up.
^^'Ring leader' guy doing some balancing of a quite large pot.
^^All these dudes were running around flipping through those circles. I have a video of it, but again, the upload won't work.
^^Opening act. No flips, just dancing and wild costumes.
We're going to try to go to the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium tomorrow afternoon. I'm a huge fan of aquariums, and apparently this one has the largest underwater tunnel in the world, as well as the massive gold fish named Bruce, as in Bruce Lee...As read on Wikipedia. :-)
2 soccer games tomorrow. One at 5pm, then one at 7pm!!
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PMM
Wow, the ERA show sounds like it was worth every penny - great job describing it on your blog, I feel like I saw the show with you.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear your trip to Beijing has been delayed ... you have no control over traffic ... maybe this delay was meant to be for some unknown reason. You're rescheduled it to next weekend which is awesome. Like you said, more time to plan it out, think it through and get even more excited.
I love aquariums too... so soothing and calming to see fish swimming around, lol enjoy it! BTW, I've been meaning to tell you what a great photographer you are, always seem to get that picture that really helps tell your story - love every one of them. I feel like I know so much about the chinese culture - you're a great writer.
Let us know how your soccer games go Pat, you're so far away but when we read your blog, you're so close. Love it!
Love & hugs, Mom