Acrobatics takes a leap

At 23, Cao Wenhao has spent most of his life learning how to fly, tumble, and balance onstage.

Born into a family of acrobats in Jining, Shandong province, he began training at age 6, following in the footsteps of his grandparents and uncle. His latest challenge was unlike anything he had tried before: turning an ordinary skipping rope into an acrobatic prop.

The Path — Group Men's Rope Tricks, by the Shandong Acrobatic Troupe, made its debut at the 12th China Acrobatics Golden Chrysanthemum Awards, held from Sept 13 to 19 in Puyang, Henan province. The competition brought together 26 acrobatic troupes from across China.

When Cao joined the project, he thought some of the movements were almost impossible. Nearly three years later, he and 26 other male performers were leaping over ropes, tumbling through the air, and climbing into human towers.

"It was really tough," Cao says backstage after the performance, still visibly excited. "But through constant attempts and training, we gradually overcame the difficulties."

The 10-minute production, one of the competition's 10 award-winning programs, combines traditional acrobatics with freestyle rope skipping.

For Cao, the hardest part was not mastering a single trick, but making more than 20 performers move as one. The troupe spent nearly three years developing the production, often training for about 10 hours a day. During the final two years, Cao spent another two to three hours each day working specifically on the finale.

"The most comforting thing was that everyone made it through the training healthy and safe," he says.