Twirling plates in midair, contortion and flying through the air is all in a day's work for the acrobats in the Wuhan Acrobatic and Cultural Troupe.
It has brought its show to New Zealand for a special private performance for the Chinese Consulate in Christchurch but will also appear in a one-off public show in Dunedin.
One of the oldest troupes in China, it was formed in 1953 from a merger of private acrobatic troupes.
Troupe spokesman Liang Yiping said it was one of the most famous state-owned troupes in China, with a membership of 230 artists and managers.
A selected group has come to New Zealand, bringing with it two singers from the Wuhan Singing and Dancing Theatre: Dong Yanfeng, a singer of tenor love songs who graduated from Wuhan Conservatory of Music, and Wan Jing, a national B-class soprano.
The troupe's acrobats are required to be able to perform acrobatic feats, aerial acts and magic and clown acts.
This includes using teeter boards, aerial rope and silk, the ''death ring'', contortion and the Chinese pole.
''Their performances are combined with extreme skill and beauty.''
Most of the techniques used by the artists were traditional but were performed in a modern way with multimedia, dance and lights incorporated.
The acts required a lot of practice and along the way the artists came up with new or more modern elements to add to the show.
The artists practised for about five hours a day to keep up their skills and physical agility.
This ensured they were at less risk from injury doing the acts, which push their physicality.
''The skills they perform have been developed and improved by several generations of artists.''
They had safety equipment in place when they performed a dangerous act, he said.
''Our artists are quite experienced and know how to protect themselves from injury.''
All of the artists started out as children with an interest in acrobatics.
They were sent to arts schools to learn how to perform and the troupe selected performers from the schools.
The performance in Dunedin is to help raise funds for the Dunedin Chinese Garden, the Dunedin Chinese Scholar and Student Association and the New Zealand Chinese Association, Otago and Southland branch.
