Mouths are expected to drop and heads to shake when the Peking Acrobats perform Jan. 29 in Kent.
“Your attention span will be held,” said Don Hughes, co-producer of the show, over the phone Thursday from his office in Pismo Beach, Calif.
Twenty-two performers ages 16-24 will show off their skills in wire walking, trick cycling, precision tumbling, gymnastics, contortion, juggling and other feats.
“The costumes are beautiful,” Hughes said. “They do incredible tricks. They act like it’s easy, but it’s very difficult.”
The Peking Acrobats, of the People’s Republic of China, are back in town for the third time for the city of Kent’s Spotlight Series. The show is at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Kentwood High Performing Arts Center, 25800 164th Ave. S.E. in Covington. Tickets are selling fast. The acrobats appeared in front of sellout crowds in 2007 and 2004 in Kent.
Accompanied by a five-member Chinese orchestra, the acrobats will perform stunts that most have practiced since age 6.
“In performing arts in China, you start when you are very young,” said Hughes, in his 24th year with the Peking Acrobats. “They start at age 6 and go to acrobatic school in the afternoons six days a week. Discipline is really rehearsed into them. They learn to fall and land on their feet, no matter how many feet they are off the ground.”
The top children in the acrobatic schools are chosen to become professionals in China, some as young as age 10.
Ken Hai, co-producer of the show and the founder of the Peking Acrobats, goes to China each year to hire for the show. The acrobats selected train in Los Angeles through IAI Presentations, Inc., the company producing the tour.
This year’s tour includes 80 performances from January through early April from California to Florida.
The 20 acts during the show include boggling titles such as “Diving Daring Do,” “Five-Girl Contortion,” “Kung-Fu Surprise,” “Let the Spinning Plates Spin” and “Human Pyramid.”
“Every prop on the stage is something you could find at home,” Hughes said.
Hughes said the use of plates, tables, chairs, jars and other items in the performances goes back to when children in China who wanted to become acrobats looked around the house for any item they could use for an act.
“I think the most modern item is a bicycle,” he said.
The Peking Acrobats started in 1985, but Hughes has been bringing acrobats to the United States since the early 1970s. Hughes met up with Hai in the 1970s in South Africa, where Hughes is from. Hai had acrobats from Taiwan and wanted to know if Hughes would produce a show with his performers. Hughes agreed.
“We brought them to South Africa and sold out shows, and then sold out shows in England and Las Vegas,” he said.
In the mid-1980s, Hughes and Hai went to China and started the Peking Acrobats tour.
“It’s incredible,” Hughes said of the 24 years of touring. “After 10 years we would say ‘how long will this go on?’ and we said that again after 15 and 20. Now we don’t talk about it.”
The ageless appeal could be a reason the Peking Acrobats go on and on.
“It’s a family show with no language barrier,” Hughes said. “It appeals to as young as 4 and to grandparents.”
If you go
What: Peking Acrobats
When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29
Where: Kentwood High Performing Arts Center
Cost: $30 general, $28 ages 55 and older and $25 ages 25 and younger
Tickets: www.kentarts.com or call 253-856-5051
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