Acrobatics school keeps the dream alive
Print Edition
TWENTY-SEVEN pupils aged 7 to 14 are a blur of movement as they practice acrobatics in a gymnasium 300 kilometers southeast of Beijing.
The youngsters somersaulting and contorting themselves into impossible shapes are being trained at an acrobatics school in Ningjin County, east China’s Shandong Province. It is one of numerous facilities across the country that are designed to raise the next generation of practitioners of art forms that may otherwise die out.
These examples of “intangible cultural heritage,” as they are known, are recognized by UNESCO and formally protected in China. The Ministry of Culture recently doubled allowances given to practitioners of intangible cultural heritage to 20,000 yuan (US$3,100) a year.
Among the pupils at Ningjin is 8-year-old Liu Ankang, who is being taught hat-juggling.
“My sister is a graduate of this school, and I also want to go out from here to see a bigger world,” Liu said.
His sister, six years older than him, recently finished a performance tour in South Korea.
Despite the increasing popularity of Chinese acrobatics around the world, the number of parents wanting to send their children to train is in decline, said Shi Xiangdong, dean of the school.
“People think that acrobatics is hard. Why would parents in a single-child family be willing to send their only kid here?”
Yet in Shi’s opinion, the hard work and sacrifice are worth it as graduates of the school don’t have to worry about finding jobs. Normally, they are sent to municipal or provincial troupes after three years’ training, and are paid up to 5,000 yuan per month.
Retired performer Liu Junsheng, 54, teaches at Shi’s school.
“I can’t go on the stage anymore, but I feel obliged to pass on my skills and write a history of the Liu school,” he said.
Over the years he has trained more than 100 acrobats.
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