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It’s a unique type of talent that answers the calling of the Shanghai Circus — which performed to an enraptured audience of adults and children alike on their opening night at the Ruth Seaton James Theatre on Friday.

Take the example of Jiang Zhao — who has been with the troupe for 14 years and is undoubtedly one of the world’s foremost experts at his various chosen crafts. But just how, exactly, did he first discover his unique talents would set him up particularly well for becoming “skilled at the act of kicking bowls on a roly-poly” as the programme introduces him?

For those not familiar with the show, one act entails Mr. Zhao balancing on a piece of wood set on top of a rolling log-type-thing, before pushing a bowl to the end of the plank of wood and flicking it up to land on his head. Then he flicks a few more bowls into that bowl, then a cup, and then a spoon into the cup. Then he does the same again, except this time he’s balancing on a roly-poly on top of the shoulders of someone else who’s balancing on another roly-poly and so on and so on.

The mind can only boggle at the number of hours it must have taken to perfect this extremely impressive, yet essentially pointless, skill.

Undoubtedly, the bizarreness of most of the various acts on show is the source of the huge appeal of the Shanghai Circus — it was the first Bermuda Festival show to sell out this year, despite tickets exchanging hands for $150.

Where else would you watch two men dressed as pandas wrestling with each other for five minutes before realizing with astonishment that all the while it was actually only one man, on all fours? Or gasp as a girl manages to spin five umbrellas at once — two of which are being juggled on each of her feet at the time? Or wince in agony as contortionists bend double to squeeze themselves through a piece of pipe the size of your thigh?

The experience, for this spectator at least, was deeply surreal. Apparently the acts described above, along with other skills such as “balancing on a couple of poles while a girl stands on your head and balances a tea-set on top of her nose,” originally developed from “everyday life and work … in village harvest festivals” over the last 2,500 years in China.

Apart from the fact that these village festivals sound far more lively and fun than any of the harvest festivals I can remember, the “off-the-wall” nature of most of the acts was heightened by an accompanying synthesized soundtrack which set these ancient festivities next to the likes of the decidedly 20th century Chemical Brothers, Elvis and (I think), Tom Jones.

I’m not sure that you could watch this circus more than once or twice and still enjoy it as much, as most of its appeal is in the unexpected nature of the performances, but as a first-timer I was kept spellbound throughout by the variety and pace of the acts as they sped through the two-hour set. As, from what I could tell, were most of the audience — children and adults alike.

Interestingly for a circus, the occasional slight hiccups in the show — where an acrobat would slightly mistime a flip through a hoop or a balancer would fall off balance — rather than detracting from the intrigue, tended to heighten the audience’s excitement. Instead of becoming glazed over by acts that appeared routine, the audience were made to fully appreciate the pin-prick precision required of all the performers. This tended to fire them up in support of the performer’s second attempt, when they would make that impossible flip or balancing act and would then be rewarded with an even more appreciative round of applause.

Judging from the amount of oohs and aahs and rapturous applause in general, the audience was clearly won over by the Shanghai Circus. My only disappointment came when I realized there would be no encore act.

That aside, the uniqueness of the acts and skills on display, along with the energetic and spirited performances made for one of the highlights of this year’s festival.[[In-content Ad]]

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