“Traditions of Chinese Acrobatics” is a solo acrobatic performance. Li Liu performs hand balancing, plate spinning, ribbon dancing, diabolos and foot juggling. A limited number of volunteers get to join her on stage to create an impromptu ribbon dance, and also to try their hand at plate spinning. Educational connections are made with the Chinese language and culture. Li explains some of the rituals of Chinese New Year, teaches the audience some basic Chinese phrases, and encourages them to think about what it might have been like to grow up in a different time and place.

“Traditions of Acrobatics” is this year’s Eleanor ‘Soosie’ Harding Children’s Program. Eleanor ‘Soosie’ Harding was the first children’s librarian at the Walpole Public Library, 1930-1938. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of the Harding Family in memory of their mother and grandmother, Eleanor Harding.