Katharina Hesse

NEW: VANISHING TRADITIONS : ACROBATS

  • A young apprentee balances a drum during daily training in Wuqiao, ChinaAcrobatic performances belong to Chinas variety arts and have existed for centuries. Acrobats originally were to entertain poor villagers in the countryside. Nowadays it's a profession for young people from the countryside seeking a better life in China's big cities where they lead a life as outcasts. Their monthly income is not enough to participate in social life , let alone to have private lifes. The troupes often live together in basic housing such as dorms and it's difficult to break out.
  • A young acrobats ' apprentee hangs from a barre for about 30 minutes during daily excercises . Students who fail these kind of basic training won't make it into a professional troupe.
  • Acrobating performances were recorded for the first time more than 2500 years ago as cheap entertainment for locals in rural China with special shows for the Emperor by the best troupes. While China has seen a dramatic transformation over the years, one component that has not changed is the fact that acrobatic performances are still seen as cheap entertainment, this time though with affluent cities such as Shanghai or Beijing in the background where performers from poor rural backgrounds feel uneasy or as one of my main protagonists from a theatre in Beijing says :” We are the underbelly of society. City people look down on us as we are considered old fashioned and penniless.”As seen in the images below, immense self -imposed discipline, personal sacrifices and rigor, are necessary to survive daily practises.
  • Performers rehearse for a show in the afternoon inside a theatre in Beijing.
  • A young girl stretches during daily excercises in an acrobats school in Wuqiao, China.
  • A young performer stretches during warming-up excercises for a performance in a theatre in Beijing.
  • A young performer stretches during rehearsals for a show in Beijing
  • Young acrobatic performers observe their colleagues during daily morning rehearsals for an afternoon show in a theatre in Beijing.
  • A young apprentee looks out of a window after the daily training in an acrobats school in Wuqiao.
  • A young performer stretches during rehearsals for a show in Beijing.
  • A young acrobat apprentee from the countryside lifts one leg into the air for 30 minutes with a bandage around her neck during her daily training in an acrobats' school in Wuqiao, China.Acrobatic performances belong to Chinas variety arts and have existed for centuries. Acrobats originally were to entertain poor villagers in the countryside. Nowadays it's a profession for young people from the countryside seeking a better life in China's big cities where they lead a life as outcasts. Their monthly income is not enough to participate in social life , let alone to have private lifes. The troupes often live together in basic housing such as dorms and it's difficult to break out.
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