SPLENDID: The show Gorgeous Girls, a unique combination of acrobatic skills of playing the diabolo and Peking Opera, won the President's Award at the 26th International Circus Festival of Tomorrow in France on February 6, 2005 (COURTESY OF CHINA NATIONAL ACROBATIC TROUPE)

In order to make the show more artistic, Sun invited the famous choreographer Zhang Jigang, Vice General Director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, to create an eight-minute dance for it. Merged into graceful dance, the breathtaking performance won the Golden Clown Award, recognized as the acrobatic equivalent of an Oscar, at the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo that year.

Reform for tomorrow

At the end of 2006, a market-oriented reform was carried out in CNAT. "The old management regime seriously affected the development of the troupe. After reforming, the most urgent problems for us are how to create our own brand and how to develop Chinese acrobatics through market operations," said Li Enjie, then President of CNAT. Li believed that excellent performers were the basis of an acrobatic troupe. Before the reform, the troupe seemed to have become a provider of skilled performers for foreign acrobatic troupes.

"CNAT has performed a lot in foreign countries, but most of our performances were only in low-end markets. We should change. We should begin by enlarging the domestic market, improving the quality and building a brand," Li said.

As an enterprise, CNAT knows its production should meet the needs of its audiences and that modern business management was necessary. Thus, those who are good at market operation of cultural products have been introduced to the management team, including the well-known Chinese movie maker Feng Xiaogang.

A LETTER TO HOME: Acrobats show their feats at grand performance on October 20 to celebrate the 60th birthday of the China National Acrobatic Troupe (COURTESY OF CHINA NATIONAL ACROBATIC TROUPE)

On December 17, 2009, Goodbye, UFO, a three-dimensional musical acrobatic show created by CNAT, completely changed audiences' impressions of traditional Chinese acrobatics.

"It is really unbelievable that acrobatics can be so marvelous and vogue," said Yi Nan, a 25-year-old Beijing resident.

However, an older audience member seemed to disapprove of the performance, telling Li that he preferred "pure acrobatics."

Obviously, the new performance won't suit everyone's taste, Li said. The target audience for Goodbye, UFO is indeed different. At present, CNAT is attempting to make a breakthrough, creating different styles for different audiences.

"If acrobatic shows were unable to attract young audiences, we would have trouble in development," Li said.

Both music and technological means were utilized in the creation of new products. The reason Chinese acrobatics has been in existence for nearly 3,000 years is it has combined the most fashionable types of performing arts in each period of its development, Li said.

However, Li thinks the true vitality of acrobatics is still innate. "How to innovate around the acrobatic art itself is the most important issue for the development of Chinese acrobatics.

Currently, we must try to attract audiences to acrobatics theaters and then create new programs according to their needs. The purpose is to make the audience like it," Li said.