Wire show to be staged at the Bird's Nest

Acrobats rehearse the wire performance at the Bird's Nest for the show Attraction, which will be staged at the stadium from Sept 12 to Oct 7. [Photo by Zou Hong / China Daily]

This September at Beijing's Bird's Nest, 31 male and female acrobats will tumble and fly on wires in a performance renowned for its difficulty worldwide, said the organizer of the show.

"The wire performances we're used to seeing only hoist performers up and down - it's static," said the director of the show, Fan Yiwen. "But our wire show is dynamic. It enables our actors to interact with audience."

On July 18, about 300 people started rehearsing flying scenes while suspending from wires for Attraction, a large-scale, open-air show that was specifically designed for the Bird's Nest that combines music, dance, a magic show and acrobatics.

According to the show's director, men and women will soar into the sky to 38 meters, about the height of the stadium, in six seconds on wires as long as 13,000 meters. While suspended, they will perform different movements to present various patterns in the sky.

Performing the most challenging part of the performance, the acrobats will fly from various angles through the sky for about five minutes.

The show's flyers are from a martial art school in Henan province that has taken part in many big performances such as the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

"It's the first time we've performed on wires 38 meters in the sky. It's far more thrilling than roller coasters," said Jin Chao, 18, who will graduate from the school this year.

There are about 260 students aged 15 to 18 from the school taking part in the wire performance. More than 200 people will be pulling the wires. Each flyer needs at least six people to pull him into to the sky.

"In order to guarantee 100% safety of our performers, we choose to control the wires with people rather than computers," sad Fan.

Attractionis showing for the second year at the Bird's Nest and is to be staged from Sept 12 to Oct 7.