By Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
A piece entitled 'Kids play with straw hats'. - WINSTON SILL/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE HAND is really quicker than the eye. And, for those who really work at it, the spine is more flexible than a rubber band. It is possible for 14 chairs to make a vertical ladder for a human Spider, a man can fit into a tube narrower than a manhole cover when he is doubled up, no less and a very heavy vase can be juggled almost like a football.
And one more thing. R. Kelly was right. There are those who believe they can fly, especially one little girl whose pigtails flapped as she flew in the closing 'Springboard Show' of the Zunyi Acrobatic Troupe at the National Arena, Kingston, on Sunday night.
A place that only three weeks ago provided protection from the elements to many who fled Hurricane Ivan, ably contained a storm of cheers from a near-full house for the 24-member acrobatic ensemble, which checked off Jamaica as the 52nd country it has visited in its 40-year history. The family nature of the event was signified by the hordes of ankle-nippers who poured into the Arena and sat goggle-eyed at the displays of flexibility, speed, co-ordination, grace, strength and teamwork. They were not out of place, as many times the adults were bug-eyed too, and silent fascination often morphed into tumultuous applause, a standing ovation from the floor at the end indicating the audience's satisfaction and appreciation.
The hand speed display came in the second section of the show, with the funny 'Kids Playing With Straw Hats'. The 'kids' were adult men, but the excellent costuming (short pants and all), which was strong throughout the show, the performers' expressions and their gamboling made the tag believable.
PERFECT SYNCHRONISATION
They started out with three hats each, one hanging in mid-air at all times as in perfect synchronisation, the six acrobats juggled the headgear at twice Shoaib Akhtar hitting Brian Lara in the neck speed, putting on each in turn. Doing various combinations, including forming a pyramid and juggling the hats - in sync, of course - as well as forming a circle and passing the hats around, they climaxed by throwing up the straw headgear and kneeling, allowing the hats to fall to the floor. From floor to rollaway, the applause also showered upon them.
The spine curling experience was, appropriately enough, titled 'Our Display of Flexibility'. Three women showed their ability to almost rest their bottoms on the crowns of their heads, singly as well as a team, looking remarkably relaxed while doing so, in addition to other tendon tweaking movements. The crowning moment came when they formed a pyramid in the curled up position, one woman moving her legs sideways in a movement that would 'dun' the annual Dancehall Queen competition.
The comic book Spiderman wears a red and black suit and is known as the 'wall-crawler', but the 'chair-climber' who eventually balanced on his head on the edge of the 14th chair atop a quivering stack he built one by to him, his legs rising just above the light rigging, was in blue body suit with white hood.
His performance, which brought up intermission, was woven into music, as were all the presentations for the evening.
There was male flexibility in 'Skill In a Bucket', done on a round pedestal by a yellow-suited performer, who at times wore the silver coated cylinder on his back and walked on the little of his hands and feet that were exposed much like a crab with a shiny top-hat for a shell.
He doubled up and pulled himself through the small space repeatedly, much to the delight of the audience.
VASE JUGGLER
The vase juggler utilised four vases in turn and tandem in showing his skill, the audience whooping as he tossed one high and then held it in the crook of his foot near the floor, much like a footballer 'hengs' the 'ledda'. With the Reggae Boyz 'Office' an Aaron Lawrence goalkick away, there was even more similarity with football when he flicked it up and bent low to balance it behind his head.
And, to cap it off, he threw up the largest vase, caught it on its edge on his head and balanced it there.
There were aerial moves before, notably in the three-man 'Skills on Thong' which used two yellow straps suspended from the ceiling, but the real flying was saved for the show-ending 'Springboard', carried out by the largest set of performers for the night. With the use of the board the white-suited figures flew, most notably the youngest member of the ensemble, her pigtails flying as she was rapidly turned end over end on the upraised feet of an upside-down like the sprocket of a bicycle whizzing downhill in high gear.
BEAUTIFUL SEQUENCE
In one beautiful sequence there was a domino effect of flying bodies, with an explosion of applause as one acrobat unexpectedly ended up perfectly seated in a chair held shoulder high by two other performers.
They were not the first for the night to take to the air, as previously a pliant board had been expertly used as a six-inch wide trampoline to send acrobats flying the friendly skies.
It was not all flying bodies and contortions, though, as a couple fused 'Modern Western with Chinese Acrobatics'. There were lots of lifting as they moved to the music, climaxing in a beautiful moment when the woman stood on one leg, fully extended, first on her partner's left and then his right deltoid, his arms outstretched.
And there was appreciative silence for the duration of a woman in resplendent red keeping several saucers spinning on thin wands in one hand, using the other to perform several intricate balances and manoeuvres.
Appreciative of the difficulty of the performances, there was sympathetic applause when a ring that was being leapt through was knocked over in the opening sequence, as well as when one hat of seven that were tossed high fell during 'Kids With Straw Hats' and there were no complaints at the end.
There was a warning, though, from the night's hostess do not attempt this at home.
