Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 155

-v 'c t- 2 MAmwjit mi fM i 5 f'HerV wr.v STAGE Flying grace By Susan Soper Anyone who thinks kung fu Is just a lot of fist and foot combat a la David Carradine or Bruce Lee has surprises in store from the-Chinese Acrobats of Taiwan who also offer Man yen (acrobats dressed as mythical animals), Hsin chuang (acrobats atop poles), Kang ting(jug- tiuang i gling heavy objects) and Chung Haia (acfobats diving through rings of fire and knives). The young companys display of these. andent Chinese folk arts the acrobats borrowed some of the kung fu moves just after the gloriour le gii Tang Dynasty (during the Seventh and Eighth nr: at Centuries) opened a two-week en, gageme: the Minskoff Theatre in Manhattan an last night. is a literally breathtaking drcusbaUet of head over heels spectacles acme The show ived through mind over body. And that is kung fu is, loosely translated from the, original Chinese characters: the solid ability of achievement after arduous practice with an emphasis on internal strength.

What appears to be superhuman grate and precision propels acrobats from 11 1 of Taiwans most famous acrobatic families tumbling under and around chairs, ladders and tables, poles, flames, knives and each other. They; are like young -tadpoles darting quickly aroUrt a mall pond, in this case an Oriental rug. While children marvel at what the nimble, -seemingly weightless bodies are up to; adults- with an eye for reality can appreciate the internal concentration necessary to achieve the seem ing impossible. Somewhere inside, a squeamish voice says, I can't watch this. Dont look.

But its impossible to take your eyes off the magificent kpectacles. icing a another maw on top of that youre further startled as when, good grief, a smiling young wom-an climbs atop the layers of torture (to mere mortals) and begins to sing into a microphone. Something must be said, too, about audiences that gobble up such esoterics for entertainment. But -its like ordering in a Chinese restaurant one dlh is never enough and two dishes are too much. The Chinese Acrobats, however, are too much In the best possible way.

Delicate and satisfying. And not all of it is hair-raising. With other-worldly grace and discipline, the acrobats also dance and juggle with equal, if less daredevilish, finesse. All of it is set to folk and olaaafoal Chinese music highlighted by tempos set, ethereally or suspensefully, by the drums and gongs. If you want- to know what it feels like to be an emperor presiding over a glorious state function -which is where the ancient acrobats found imperial favor and flourished the troupe from Taiwan provides royal entertainment for the whole family.

Theyll be at the Minskoff through Dec. 5 in their first performance on Broadway as a put of their second tour of the United States. They'll be in dties in the U. S. and Canada this year, v.

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