Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe

The official name of what is known outside China as the Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe is in fact the Soldier Acrobatic Troupe of the Political Department of Guangzhou Military Region. Based in Guangzhou (Canton), in the province of Guangdong, the troupe is managed by the Chinese Army; all its acrobats are part of the military, and wear their uniforms on official occasion—but they are nonetheless professional acrobats whose sole occupation is to perform. The Soldier Acrobatic Troupe was founded in October l951.

The troupe is one of China's top acrobatic troupes, with 518 artists, a state-of-the-art theater in Gungzhou, and the most impressive collection of international awards in China: Seventeen of its acts won gold prizes in Paris (including three Prix du Président de la République), Monte Carlo (two Gold Clowns), Italy and Sweden, and thirteen other international awards (as of 2011). It has also produced some of the most lavish full-scale acrobatic shows in China.

The Guangdong Troupe has taken part in the making of fifteen documentaries and feature films, among which Heroes of Acrobatics, produced by the Phoenix Film Studio in the l980s. They have toured in fifty-five countries and regions, and given 115 performances overseas. In 1991, President Jiang Zemin granted the title of Model Artists to the performers of the troupe. Ning Geng, Lu Huiping, Wang Tianfan, Luo Baoshan, Gao Junsheng, Lin Xiong, Gao Wenxiu, Sun Peng, Cao Linbao and Yang Dong are among the most famous artists of the Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe.

See Also

• Video: The Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe, banquine act, 18th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, Paris (1995)