Life and Leisure

Beijing makeover

By Eric Jou (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-16 13:51

Members of the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe, with Guy Caron's help, delight local audiences with a fresh look at modern acrobatic skills. Wang Jing / China Daily

When it comes to injecting fresh appeal into a time-tested traditional art, only the best will do. Enter Guy Caron from Cirque du Soleil, stage left. Eric Jou visits the big top to find out more.

Lights, music and a touch of comedy. With Guy Caron's help, some of Beijing's traditional acrobatic performances are now fully packaged spectacles, much like his own Cirque Du Soleil.

Caron works with the best talent on the planet and he knows it. For years, the Cirque had been headhunting Chinese acrobats for its own shows and some of their most celebrated star performers are from this neighborhood.

Caron's Cirque du Soleil or Circus of the Sun, is arguably Canada's most famous entertainment export. Its shows travel worldwide, attracting mesmerized audiences with costumes, make-up, music and the most amazing acrobatic acts in water, on land and in the air.

He has a considerable reputation and when the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe heard he was in China at the Shaolin Temple, working on a show, they sensed an opportunity. They sent him a ticket and an invitation to Beijing in the hope he would help give their performances a more modern appeal.

"The Directors of the Chinese Performing Arts Association asked me to do this show and I accepted," says Caron.

Guy Caron, a pioneer of the modern circus arts, says he has to bring together the different elements of the traditional Chinese acrobatic segments into a themed, cohesive whole. Wang Jing / China Daily

Caron is a pioneer of the modern circus arts. Born and raised in French Canada, he started his career on stage and was a comedian before he was a circus star. After studying in Budapest at the cole de cirque de Budapest, he returned to Canada and founded the National Circus School in Montreal, which later led to the creation of Cirque Du Soleil.

He has created a circus brand known for its haunting music, its beautifully choreographed acrobatics and compelling drama and themes. Caron single-handedly changed the face of the three-ring circus and elevated it to art.

Given Caron's background, it is no wonder the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe zeroed in on him in the hope he would help it with a magical transformation.

"In China, I have tried to present the acrobat as not just an acrobat, but as more, as a comedian. And for the acrobats to give something more of themselves to the audience," says Caron.

"We train the artists here with dance lessons, movement classes, comedy training, a lot of things the artists don't do over here traditionally," he adds.

Although he focused on the acrobats individually, he also had to bring together the different elements of the traditional Chinese acrobatic segments into a themed, cohesive whole. With Caron at the helm, the acts evolved into a story with a script.

"He merged Western creativity and theatrics with the skill and precision of Chinese acrobatics to develop a story about a little girl," says Zhang Wan, the deputy director of the show.

"We had no lack of skill, but what we were missing was the packaging and that is what the director of Cirque du Soleil did for us," says Zhang.

Caron also introduced music, another important element, into the show.

A large part of the attraction of the Cirque du Soleil hinges on its original scores and the music sells almost as well as tickets to its performances.

He brought two of his audio producers to Beijing, fellow Canadians Emma Allaire and Martin Ferguson, and they worked on the score of the performance, marrying the technology of synthesizers with the beats of Chinese drums.

This mix of Western machinery and ethnic beats may well become the signature sound of the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe.

Guy Caron has returned to Canada now after completing his mission, but he has left behind a completely rejuvenated performance, newly packaged and ready to show off the best traditional Chinese acrobatic feats on a brand new platform. Lights out, exit stage right.