Acrobats juggle entertainment, education

They sprung, spun, twisted and balanced as hundreds of Bryant Elementary School students watched and gasped.

Wang Wen Juan lay on her back, her feet dancing on a table that she twirled over her head. Kang Le rocked on his unicycle with one foot while Su Bo tossed plates and bowls at him, which he caught with his foot and kicked onto his head.

Xiao Li Meng stood on his hands - on top of four blocks on top of a T-shaped pole on top of a table.

The four performers, members of a touring Chinese acrobat troupe, entertained and educated children at Bryant on Tuesday morning. The elementary booked them to kick off the second half of its school year focusing on cultural diversity.

Assistant Principal Kelly Hangen heard about the troupe and asked her principal if Bryant could bring in the acrobats. Principal Karen Bass said it was a natural fit to the school's theme.

"It was such a good learning experience for the children," Bass said.

Children participated in multicultural day in the fall, with each classroom studying a different country and sharing what they learned with other students. Hangen's twin daughters, who she adopted from China, attend a kindergarten class with another Chinese student, so their classroom selected that country.

Hangen's daughters have spent most of their lives in the United States but love traditional Chinese music and celebrate the Chinese New Year. Their class stopped for a photo with the acrobats before they left.

The children greeted the acrobats with "ni hao" - "hello" in Mandarin. They followed along as one of the guests demonstrated how the Chinese count to 10 on their fingers, pointing out differences between American and Chinese methods.

The troupe members arrived in the United States from Beijing in November and expect to tour until June. Bass booked them through the Bureau of Lectures and Concert Artists, a Kansas-based company that provides programs for school assemblies.

The acrobats were supposed to perform outside on Bryant's covered play court but the cold weather sent them inside. The ceiling in the school's multipurpose room was too low, however, for some of the balancing acts, so the assembly moved to neighboring Farnell Middle School's gymnasium.

Zhang Qzan, who emceed the event, explained to students the traditions and importance as the acrobats performed. They did juggling routines, handsprings and balancing acts. It takes lots of practice to accomplish those feats, she said.

"Practice, practice, many, many years," she said after an acrobat flipped a table about the size of a coffee table on her feet. "But don't do it in your home. It's too dangerous."