The Great China Circus at the ASB Stadium

By SHELLEY HOWELLS

The best way to enjoy the wonderful Great China Circus show is to take a kid. That way, you get twice the show: the spectacle that comes from a 2500-year history of circus performances, and the hilarious, heart-warming sideshow on the face of that kid having a freaky time.

I took the 6-year-old, and wildly recommend doing so, despite the murderous morning that resulted from an 11 pm bedtime.

The ASB Stadium is a small venue by circus standards, which adds to the wow-factor (take a drink and buy a souvenir fan because the building gets stuffy). That the only animals required to perform unnatural acts are the humans (including those of us enduring those plastic seats) appeals, too.

The first half is a theatrical trip through the history of Chinese circus and performances of typical (if you can describe gob-smacking as typical) circus acts from those eras.

It's a graphic reminder that the Cirque du Soleil people did not invent the circus, they merely gave it a modern twist.

Part two (after a 20-minute break) is a selection of contemporary acts, chosen from among the 200,000 professional circus performers in 1200 circus companies at work in China today.

Highlights included the 58-year-old master contortionist, packing himself into an incredibly small container (6-year-old: I don't believe that he'll manage to do that.); the spinning plates act (it must be fun working in a circus); the groovy, sinewy sexpot of a hula-hoop chick in go-go ensemble (woooooah!); the princess-on-a-rope (it doesn't look pleasant hanging upside-down like that); the spectacular balancing board (I like this bit. Only if he doesn't fall off.); the 13-year-old world junior circus champ doing a one-handed handstand on a swinging rope (that must be freaky); and the gravity-defying world champion monkey pole team (my favourite).

Roll up. Roll up. After the Auckland season ends tonight, the circus moves to Taupo on February 12 before moving on to other main centres until mid-March.