Ride the Dragon

Chinese acrobats are more than tumblers

Comments (0) By Paul Friswold Wednesday, Apr 30 2008

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Some people look at a chair and see a chair. A Golden Dragon acrobat looks at a chair and sees the beginnings of a ladder. Balance half a dozen chairs atop one another, climb the pile, and then perform a gymnastics routine on one hand while spinning slowly fifteen feet above the ground — that’s what a Golden Dragon acrobat does. A parasol becomes a drifting flower, juggled precisely with the feet so it jumps and dips from edge to edge, sprouting delicately from an extended toe; a metal wheel the size of a tractor tire becomes a whirling jungle gym piloted by five people who cling to its circumference as they gyrate wildly across the stage. A Golden Dragon acrobat takes the most ordinary objects and transforms them through amazing dexterity and skill and imagination into something extraordinary, continuing a 2,500-year-old tradition of dazzling audiences. The Golden Dragon Acrobats take the stage of the Florissant Civic Center Theatre (Parker Road and Waterford Drive, Florissant; 314-921-5678 or www.florissantfinearts.com) at 8 p.m. this evening. Tickets are $23 to $25.
Wed., May 7, 2008