The One Show...

A wondrous representation and encapsulation of true life in Shanghai as depicted through people flying through the air at great heights, the ERA acrobat show has, for over 15 years now, been the show you must see if you visit Shanghai! 

'Great for Guests'

Starting back in 2005 as “ERA: Intersection of Time”, the show has always been a fail-safe option to take guests from out of town. This writer’s own parents submitted their expert opinion back in 2008:

“It’s very good.  I don’t know how they do it.  Really!  Lovely stuff.  

…What’s the name of the restaurant we’re going to now? Southern what? Barbarian?”  

Tom Cruise-Approved

But don’t take my parents' word for it.  ERA is so Shanghai even your man Tom Cruise went to see it when he was in town back in 2005.  This is the first thing he did right when he landed. He went straight away and saw ERA and got so inspired he made “Mission Impossible 3” in Shanghai in 2006.  

I don’t know if that’s true but I don’t know if that’s NOT TRUE either. 

Time for a New ERA

Last January, after 15+ years of nightly shows — attracting more than 5 million viewers from home and abroad, and pulling in over RMB 600 million in tickets  — "ERA: Intersection of Time" did their final performance, bid us farewell, and went into a creative cocoon to revamp the show for a new generation of people’s guests visiting from out of town. 

Dawn of a New...

At the end of July, they triumphantly reemerged as “ERA 2: Spirit of Shanghai”, with a brand new storyline, a new creative team, reshuffled acrobatic acts, new costumes, new set-pieces, touch-ups of classic acts, and more.  

In Pictures

Scroll on for look on -- and behind -- the stage of "ERA 2: Spirit in Shanghai". 

Contemporary but Traditional

The creative framework of ERA is that it offers a ‘contemporary’ twist on traditional Chinese acrobatic arts, with a healthy influence of Cirque-style Western circus arts and production techniques, all inspired by the familiar sites and feel of a Shanghai charging through the ages. 

A Wider Pallet of Performance

The second season of ERA leans more to the contemporary.  They’re still staging a bedrock blend of centuries-old traditional Chinese acrobatics but have merged in more avant-garde technologies, stage design, and have even included more elements of extreme sports, improv comedy, and dance theater into the show. 

Just as Long as Something Meets Something

In terms of narrative, this new show maintains this basic structure but shifts the story line from the more broadly focused “East Meets West” theme of the first production into a more individualist archetype: “Boy Meets Girl.” 

Love in a Subway

'The Spirit of Shanghai' is a romantic tale of a boy who is looking for the girl he fell in love with at first sight in the city.  On a rainy day, in a subway station, naturally.  Despite everyone dressed in the same denim outfits, rushing this way and that, their eyes locked across the throng...

So, the story is his story becoming their story.  

According to the playbill, on his journey, he discovers “the charm of the city and his true self”. 

The Hero's Journey

Our protagonist's quest to find "his true self", of course, involves lots flying through the air, 20 feet above the ground, doing 15 flips in a row across the stage, and spinning on his head. 

The C+ English Literature student in me offers that all this is all a metaphor to illustrate that he is literally head over heels in love with the charm of Shanghai and the aformentioned love interest. 

Dance of Love

(She does a fair amount of spinning on her own part, it must be said.)

Old Shanghai

So, the show progresses with our two central leads playing out their story arc, in a beautifully choreographed, modern dance kind of style, and encountering a Shanghai that is both very traditional in one minute — as represented in classic Chinese acrobatic performances…

And New

…But very modern and internationally influenced. 

Like this kid on the BMX who did a superb, A+ wheelie on his bike and then was raised onto a platform 15 feet in the air. 

And then hopped on his one wheel through three audience tiers. 

Vroom, Vroom

*Gasp!*

But we all know why we're here... 

(Or, at least, it's a big reason why we're here.)

Yes!

It's six dudes in a steel circle of death spinning around on motorcycles! 

This was the jaw-dropping centerpiece to the pervious iteration of ERA and is still impressive here.  They bring out one, then two, then three motorcyclists...

...and then four, five, and six!  

Mesmerizing! 

Order in Madness?

There exist, perhaps, no more apt metaphor for life in Shanghai than six dudes in a cage on motorcycles, zooming around each other in circles at break-neck speeds, all seemingly up for certain disaster, yet moving as a collective unit according to some clandestine higher order -- they stave off certain peril.  

Could be overthinking it. 

It’s six dudes on motorcycles in a cage -- read into it what you will.  

Fantastic Aerial Performances

The motorcycles, yes, but one of the great things about ERA is the fantastic aerial performances, which featuring single and paired performers on silks, trapazes, swings, and more.  

This performer was replete with a flock of trained doves which circled in the air above the audience and rested on her arms as she flew through the arena.

Different kind of wonderful than the motorcycle circle of death but still wonderful.  

Behind the Scenes

ERA is a well-oiled machine, with one 100-minute show every weekend at 2pm and 8pm. There are over 40 performer in the show all of whom practice every single day.

Better Production Values

From lighting to costumes to set design, the production value has been up'ed for this new season of ERA -- sort of more in line with a broadway musical.  Big swaths of light sweep the stage as it shifts and rotates to reveal a new scene. French director Alain Pacherie says it was inspired by many places in Shanghai -- its buildings, parks and squares.    

"My Biggest Talent Is Hand-Standing..."

“My name is Zhang Junyi. I’m 22, from Shandong Province, but I’ve been in Shanghai for 11 years.  I play “The Boy” in the show.  

How did I get into acrobatics? I was REALLY naughty when I was little.  Just had a lot of energy, constantly turning summersaults and stuff.  I sort of started learning gymnastics by myself when I was 9 or 10, and then I got into a professional institute when I was 13. 

My favorite part of the show is the beginning and ending. The dance performances echo each other and it’s a nice bit of atmosphere.” 

“I Love Every Second on the Stage”

My name is Qiu Dawei. I'm from Hunan Province but have been in Shanghai for 15 years.  It's a great city. Really cosmopolitan. 

I got into the industry when I was 13. Before that, I had been a gymnast. Shanghai Acrobat was recruiting in my hometown, and I just got in… life happens.  I play lots of different parts in the show.  I’m literally shifting my roles all the time.

ERA is a show that lets you to escape the reality.  It takes place in a “real world” and the sets refer to real places but the performances themselves are fantastical.  So, it’s exciting to see these fantastical scenes which can’t happen in a real life in familiar places. It inspires your imagination. 

My favorite part is the aerial acrobatic piece with the pool.  I just like the aesthetics of that performance.” 

Something for Everyone

Ever since 2005, ERA has catered in the familiar but fantastical to a larger, broader audience. Older patrons recall the traditional art forms and scenes from a bygone era of Shanghai and a younger audience is dazzled by the modern extreme sports -- people doing hand-stands on bikes and racing up half-pipes in rollerblades. 

If you've been before or are checking it out for the first time, this new ERA, with its amped up production values and awe-inspiring performances, is worth a look for a fun, escapist night out at the theater. 

Get Tickets Now!

"ERA: Spirit of Shanghai" is performed every weekend at 2pm and 8pm at the Shanghai Circus World. Tickets range from 280rmb to 880rmb in five audience tiers.  Get yours here.