PERFORMANCE REVIEW : Chinese Acrobats at Pantages

If the charming, skilled young acrobats of the Tianjin Art Troupe of China ever built a wall across their country, it would undoubtedly be an OK wall, even a nice wall. But nobody would ever call it a great wall, for this 35-member performing company from the People’s Republic isn’t definitive at anything it attempts.

At the Pantages Theatre on Tuesday, the Tianjin forces looked workmanlike rather than inspired, proficient instead of dazzling--consistently entertaining but always a cut below the cadres of spectacular Chinese virtuosi who have appeared at Magic Mountain in recent years or the awesome Chengdu Acrobats, who graced the Olympic Arts Festival in 1984.

Indeed, everything from the day-glo dragons on the unit set to the performers’ ill-assorted costumes, varied haircuts and offhand manner suggested an informal Talent Night at Tianjin High.

The easygoing approach occasionally paid dividends. Right after a routine in which a performer expertly rolled a huge porcelain jar from one outstretched arm to another across his shoulders and over his head, a comedian repeated the trick using a large pink balloon. Broad self-parody proved one of the surprises of the program.

High-quality musicianship was another. The 11 Tianjin instrumentalists played several traditional showpieces, with the energy and precision of their attack (especially in “The Tiger Grinds His Teeth”) setting a lofty standard for the entire company.

Beyond the standard array of plate-spinning, bike-riding, spool-twirling, lion-dancing, and unicycling tricks, a few major novelties remained to savor. How often, for example, have you seen someone hang by his waist from a rope (his body parallel to the floor) and then whirl straight upwards ?

Juggling symmetrical jars may be difficult, but what about manipulating a large, unwieldy paper umbrella with your feet while you lie on your back? And what about the contortionist who bends herself double to bite a flower from a bouquet hanging below her feet--while standing on a platform balanced on the head of a colleague?

In a discipline where more is never enough, the Tianjin Art Troupe offers an essentially conservative and even predictable experience. However, even middle-of-the-road Chinese acrobats have lessons to teach us about committed professionalism that our own popular entertainers have sadly forgotten. At the Pantages through April 10.