I am a Chinese Acrobat at the Jinan Acrobatic Troupe AMA!

I watched the Chinese Cirque de Soleil, they were breathtaking. Don't you worry that you could end up with a serious spinal injury? Do your parents worry about that?

You stop thinking about the dangers after doing this for a while and you know the danger of being an acrobat. I think my parents worry but they never tell me

Do you wear contact lenses while you perform? If not, how do you see well enough to do it?

How did you get started?

Yes i wear contact lenses during my performance, because spectacles make things difficult. My parents sent me here

How old were you when they sent you? Did you show a particular talent as a child?

I was 7 when they sent me to the troupe. The main reason was they left the town to work and i could earn money and a good living in the troupe too

How often did you get to see your family?

I see them twice a year, during the lunar new year and the other depend on what happens

How much do you train?

Starting at 7.30in the morning we train until 11.30. We have classes until 3, then we train all the way until dinner. Then night training happens sometime, sometime until 11. We only have sundays off

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Wow. That sounds grueling.

you get used to it after a while

What’s something that you wish you had more time to do?

Making more friends and spending time with them outside the troupe and family time

What interested you the most from the different cultures you encountered? Such as New Zealand, United States, etc.

How friendly people from other countries can be when receiving us

How long will you be able to perform? What age do most people in your profession move to different careers? Do acrobats at your level become teachers after retiring?

I know people who perform when they are 30 but no more than 40 and if they can perform for so long they most of them will become teachers in the troupe. I hope to perform at least until I am 30

My 9 year old son is a competitive gymnast and loves performing. Is acrobatics something you would encourage or would you push him in another direction?

acrobatics would be a good direction but it uses quite different skill sets and its abit more extreme i would say

When did you decide to become an Acrobat and since when have you been training towards that goal? Was the decision solely yours or have you been influenced towards it by someone?

My parents made me do what i am doing today, and they sent me in when I was 7 and that was when i started

What is the hardest thing you have done as an acrobat?

Jumping on my head up the stairs. Yes i did that

Do you think there were any unexpected benefits from being so flexible, strong, athletic, etc.? Are you the youngest in your troupe?

It made what im doing now easier, but that is it. no use outside of the stage

你是济南的吗？我也在济南!你是在省杂技团是吗？你们什么时候有表演？在济南九年从来没去过

我是济南的！是在省的杂技团！我们今天就有在省的表演了

So what do the Chinese acrobats think about the Canadania acrobats of Cirque du Soleil? And have you ever seen any of their perfomances (even on TV)?

I see they perform before live, and i think they are very very good

Cool. Does your performances have "themes" like for example the story of the Monkey King or the story of Chang'E & Hou Yi put into acrobatic choreography?

sometimes we do have themes, but we package it as one big show and the theme runs through

What's cooler than being cool?

being an acrobat :)