Shanghai Acrobats: A Team vs. B Team

I'm one lucky girl... I've been to TWO Acrobatic Shows in Shanghai! Turns out there's actually 5 different theaters in Shanghai, all with nightly shows, all performed by different troupes. That's a lot of acrobats. 

SPOILER ALERT: 
If you plan on seeing either of these Shanghai Acrobat shows in the future, part of the fun is not knowing what's going to happen next. These pics might ruin it for ya... (DISCLAIMER: all these pics were taken incognito with my phone... so perhaps you won't actually be able to see enough to ruin it)

In my 2 show experience, I learned there's an "A Team" & a "B Team". First, I saw the B Team (didn't know it was the B Team at the time) when my parents & Kimberly was here and I loved it! The acrobats were incredibly impressive in their twistiness-skills and each "act" had an adorable charm to it. The setup was somewhat simplistic, but I really enjoyed the experience and the sweet quality of all the performance.

All the acts took place on a simple theater stage at the Portman-Ritz Carlton. Here are some of my favorites:

this girl stood on 1 hand on a tiny pedestal and contorted her body into unreal positions

this woman balanced a gagillion champagne glasses on her face and then climbed this ladder... what?!

graceful ribbon swinging

this guy is upside down on stilts (after being catapulted)

My second visit, was actually the night Lesley got here and we saw what we didn't know would be "A Team". This was more of a ostentatious, theatrical performance (still not as fancy a Cirque de Soleil), starting with the building itself "Shanghai Circus World", looks just like Epcot Center. Also, they take their branding seriously. It's not just any old Shanghai Acrobats, it's "ERA - Intersection of Time" (best understood if you say it out loud with jazz hands & a light show in the background). Plus there's a website!

ERA - Intersection of Time

They also have a tagline "Miss It and You Miss Shanghai" ...BOLD statement. ;)

We're going to Shanghai Circus World! ;)

contortionists... do you see the woman on the bottom? ...bet you missed that the first time ;)

we're spinning, we're spinning, we're spinning...

lots of tumblers jumping through rotating rings 

look familiar?...

 These crazy flyers were catapulted off of see-saws and landing on top of each other

 the Grande Finale... There are 5 motorcycles inside this crazy cage.

While technically speaking, this "ERA" A team is probably better than the previous B Team, I will say that the B Team has a special charm about it that was lost in the theatrics of the "A Team" performance. I actually think some of the acts in the B were better than their comparable acts in ERA, particularly the contortionists. I would highly recommend seeing both if you have the time (aka. if you live here...)

Still have 3 more shows to go! :)