Feats of 'Chi' acrobats awe-inspiring, magical

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

•	'Chi' 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow, and 2 p.m. Sunday Blaisdell Concert Hall $18, $28, $38, $48 ($10 discount for students, seniors and military; $5 discount on adult tickets for American Express card holders) (877) 750-4400 Also: 7:30 p.m. March 19 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Castle Theatre; $10, $25, $35 general; half-price for kids 12 and younger. (808) 242-7469

It's an exhilarating marriage of athletic and acrobatic agility with theatrical invention and wizardry, with feat upon feat that evoke repeated gasps of delight, disbelief and utter amazement.

The 37-member company from Shanghai earned a standing ovation last night in the first of a four-day run through Sunday at Blaisdell Concert Hall. Take tutu, take your sweetheart, take the kids if they're old enough to endure two hours-plus of dynamic agility — much of it in mid-air — most of it resourcefully choreographed, all of it exquisitely costumed.

"Chi," literally meaning life energy, breath, or energy, is an achievement that relies on the human form, which can in one moment become a pretzel, and in another, a foundation for pyramid stacking.

The show evolves into a journey of harmony and balance. In a sense, this is a circus without animals, but there is trapeze artistry (a balancing whiz who uses her mouth to hold up a rod on which a tray of filled wine glasses gingerly dance to her sashaying form), hoop-somersaulting (lads leaping in rapid succession), and a mid-air ballet (a male and a female dancer wrapping silk fabric around arms or legs in an amazing airborne adagio akin to the kind of new-age whirlybirds common in Cirque circles).

In four acts with themes of grandeur — "The Wonder," "The Rhythm," "The Beat," "The Spirit" — that celebrate folk games as well as sporting competition, "Chi" mounts familiar feats but tweaks them to fit a recurring yin and yang balance.

Lest you forget, a recurring performer, clad in black-and-white clothing emblazoned with the familiar icon of yin and yang, flirts in and out of the production.

And throughout the show, you'll find magical examples of the polar theory. Teeter-boards flip acrobats into the air; some land on shoulders, others land on hands. Balance is the essence.

Coordination is the key to everything. Seven women, one by one, ascend a mounting formation of stacked chairs. When the last one reaches the top, you'd think it's awesome and over. But no, these troupers do handstands, one by one, down the ladder.

The company boasts contortionists galore. They perform as if they have rubber for spines, with backs arched like horseshoes, they bring their feet to their head.

If the artistry doesn't get you, the eye-filling costumes will, with motifs that range from stylized soldier uniforms to Fellini-like creations with a futuristic bent.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8067.