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Qian Brothers Pay A Visit To The IJA Winter Festival

BY BEN SCHOENBERG

People interested in phenomenal numbers juggling have probably heard of

the Qian brothers, who are currently performing at Circus-Circus in Las Vegas.

I expected that their show would be one of the highlights of the lJA Winter Festival in Las Vegas, but Jian Ping Qian's unexpected personal visit to our festival site gave an exciting glimpse at a fascinating juggling family.

After seeing their act at Circus Circus one evening, I resolved to invite the Qian brothers to visit lJA festival-goers at the Showboat. lJA board member Deena Frooman joined me on the expedition, and treasurer Richard Dingman provided a copy of the latest Juggler's World to present to them. I gave the magazine to Jian Ping Qian before the show, and he said we could talk after the performance. As the show began, I could see one of the younger brothers smiling as he read the magazine and waited for his turn on stage.

In their show, which they perform six days a week and up to three times a day, oldest brother Jian Ping performs with up to seven badminton rackets, and youngest brother Jian Wen Qian works up to a nine ring flash pulldown. The middle brother is Jian Hua Qian, who stands on one foot on Jian Ping's head while the two of them spin a total of 16 rings on arms, a leg, and a mouthstick. For the finale, the brothers stand in a line with one of them facing the other two, and each juggles six rings. Suddenly the space between them is filled with rings as they simultaneously break into an 18 ring passing pattern.

They perform with ease and confidence, wearing colorful costumes and warm smiles. Knowing that there were jugglers in the audience, the Qians turned it up another incredible notch. Jian Ping added solid backcrosses with five rackets, and Jian Wen attempted a 10 ring flash, which he threw perfectly on the second try except for one ring which bounced from his hand.

After the eight minute program, Jian Wen stopped to talk with our group of six or seven jugglers. He modestly accepted our congratulations, but said that he didn't think he was that good yet. I asked him what he can do in practice, and he said he has flashed 12 rings. He said he doesn't have as much time or space for practice as he would like. He also showed us a scar above his eyebrow from two stitches caused by an errant ring in practice. He also revealed there was another "young guy" juggling in Las Vegas who was pretty good. We repeated our invitation to visit the fest and Jian Wen agreed to visit the next day before we exchanged pleasant goodbyes.

The news of the impending visit got around quickly, and when Jian Ping Qian appeared at the Showboat the next day, a group gathered rapidly to hear him field a barrage of questions. His brothers were unable to make it, but as the oldest brother and producer of the show, Jian Ping gave tremendous insight into the story of juggling in his family.

He said the Qian family has been devoted to Chinese acrobatic arts for several generations, and that Jian Ping's uncle and grandfather were both jugglers (juggling nine and seven rings respectively). He has been juggling for 35 years since the age of five - and has won numerous awards with his troupe, ranging from first prize at the Chinese National Acrobatic competition in Beijing in 1976 to a Gold Medal at the Cirque de Demain competition in Paris in 1986. He has also been a guest instructor at the Fruitfly Circus in Australia.

The Qian brothers have performed with the Big Apple Circus and with Ringling Brothers Circus, and they performed for a year at Disney World. On more than one occasion, Jian Wen performed the 10 ring flash, and Jian Ping performed an eight racket flash five years ago. In addition, the troupe has performed their finale with 21 rings instead of the usual 18.

The rings used by the family were manufactured by Jian Ping himself, and are a bit heavier and thicker than the usual American style. They also have grooved sides for better grip. He asked how much rings cost in this country, and quipped that he could be competitive with that price!

For now, the Qian brothers are looking for another contract in Las Vegas to take after their current six month contract at Circus Circus ends. To that end, they recently scheduled an audition performance at the new Luxor Casino. In addition, Mr. Qian has assembled a larger troupe under the name "Great Wall Acrobatic" which put on a two-hour show at the Sands last December. The group features over 20 award winning artists performing many different types of acts.

It was a rare treat to get to talk to the Qian brothers, whose English was really quite good despite their apologies for it. Let's hope we get to see more of them around IJA summer festival time!