Acrobatics Derived from Games
2 min readPlate Spinning and Recreational Folkways
When people are happy，they often express their feelings by dancing，frolicking，or otherwise playing with whatever is at hand.Acrobatic Plate Spinning developed out of just this type of human behavior.
In this act，fragile porcelain plates are balanced atop slender bamboo poles about a meter long and the thickness of a pencil.The artist twirls the poles to keep the plates spinning，constantly regulating their center of gravity.
Plate and tray spinning has been performed in China for over 2，000 years.A Han Dynasty（206 BC-220AD）tomb carving from Liaoyang，Liaoning Province depicts a performer at a palace entertainment，spinning a plate on a bamboo pole with each hand.A copper engraving，also from the Han Dynasty，shows two people dancing and spinning plates with each hand.Yet another Han Dynasty tomb carving from Yangzishan in Sichuan Province shows that ancient plate spinning was almost identical to plate spinning today，except for the fact that the performers only manipulated a single plate per hand.Over the ages，numerous new techniques and variations have been developed，until today’s acrobatic artists can spin over a dozen plates at once，while simultaneously doing contortions，handstands，kicks，andvarious other stunts.Some performers can even spin vases full of fresh flowers with their mouthswhile doing contortions on towers of precariously balanced benches，or spin plates with each hand while standing on each other’s shoulders or doing handstands on each other’s heads.
Modern Plates Spinning is usually performed by groups of young women.Arduous training and con-stant innovations have not only yielded new techniques，but also increased the elegance and expres-siveness of this act.In a variation created by the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe，five people form a humar pyramid while spinning plates to simulate a bouquet of flowers bursting into bloom.Spinning Plate Ballet by the Shenyang Acrobatic Troupe seems to fill the stage with a flock of swans taking wing，as the performers depict such poetic scenes as”Red Plum Blossoms on White Snow”and”Flock of Flitting Butterflies.”
