今年1月10日深夜1時，法國巴黎郊區(qū)寒凝大地，此時一個小巧玲瓏的女子帶著兩個女孩急匆匆地朝圓形的馬戲棚走去。

她們就是杭州雜技團(tuán)團(tuán)長周信群和雜技演員沈穎吟、廉蕊，她們是應(yīng)邀前來參加第15屆法國瑪希國際馬戲節(jié)的，昨天才到巴黎。時差讓她們的反應(yīng)有些昏昏沉沉，但在責(zé)任心的驅(qū)使下，她們當(dāng)即來到馬戲棚作適應(yīng)性訓(xùn)練。但走進(jìn)馬戲棚，只見來自不同國家的眾多馬戲演員早已各據(jù)一隅在訓(xùn)練了，人影幢幢，動物雜陳。周信群了解到要待凌晨6時馬戲棚才有空，她只得帶著沈穎吟、廉蕊回到旅館。深夜的嚴(yán)寒讓她們都得了感冒，涕淚漣漣，于是大家趕快服了感冒藥。被窩剛剛睡熱，為了抓住凌晨6時場地的空當(dāng)，她們又趕忙起身睡眼惺忪地走進(jìn)馬戲棚。

棚內(nèi)的沙地上到處都是馬蹄印，坑坑洼洼的，她們只得自己動手在沙地上鋪上木板，然后開始適應(yīng)性訓(xùn)練。盡管不是正式演出，但她們?nèi)匀荒敲凑J(rèn)真，那么帶勁，把時差、困乏和感冒都撇在了一邊，直練得滿頭大汗才告一個段落。

第一輪比賽開始，與杭州雜技團(tuán)一起前去參賽的兄弟省的雜技節(jié)目演砸了，由此，周信群感到肩上為國爭光的壓力更沉了。她想起自己當(dāng)演員時去參加大賽，心里總會涌上一種莫名的緊張，因此，只有調(diào)節(jié)好賽前心理，才能正常發(fā)揮水平。沈穎吟今年23歲，而廉蕊才13歲，她們都還是小妹妹，應(yīng)該多關(guān)愛、多溝通才是！她走進(jìn)她們的房間，悄聲問：“感冒藥吃了嗎？”兩人異口同聲地回答：“吃了。”然后周信群便與她倆促膝交談：“我們是代表祖國來參賽的，要發(fā)揮出最佳水平，發(fā)揮不好會讓人終身遺憾！緊張會妨礙水平發(fā)揮，緊張會讓動作變形，所以你們在臺上要自然，要放開，要自信，要正常發(fā)揮，要最佳發(fā)揮?！眱扇硕键c(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭。不過在如此重大的國際大賽面前，說不緊張是不可能的，周信群便拿出從國內(nèi)帶來的音樂碟片放給她們聽，讓她們的心靈沉浸在柔曼而輕快的樂曲聲中。

輪到杭州雜技團(tuán)的《脖支高椅》節(jié)目上場了?；脢y之后，沈穎吟見廉蕊臉無表情，生怕她緊張，便逗她：“你的臉怎么不會笑啦？”這一說，廉蕊便卟哧笑了。正在這時，周信群走過來說：“我在給你拉保險繩，放開演吧。”兩個姑娘點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，笑成一朵花，款款上場了。

《脖支高椅》是個高難度的節(jié)目，這種難度幾乎在挑戰(zhàn)人類的極限。沈穎吟是做支撐的“底座”，膝蓋上依次向上疊起8張椅子，約10米高，像一座高塔，她的雙腳并非踩在平地，而是踩在活動的拱圈上，身子還要往后空仰，特別是脖子上套著根鋼絲連著椅子，還要保持全部表演的平衡；在10米高空的廉蕊，此時既要保持平衡，又要做出艱險的單手倒立、單手推起、單手左右倒把等高難度動作，像一只在船桅上空翻飛盤旋的海鷗，既輕靈、優(yōu)美又驚險萬分，精彩絕倫。

驚險美深深吸引了場上評委和觀眾。表演一結(jié)束，評委和觀眾一改前幾個節(jié)目坐著鼓掌的態(tài)勢，大家情不自禁地站起來熱烈鼓掌，演出十分成功。沈穎吟、廉蕊回到后臺，才發(fā)現(xiàn)身上的服飾已被汗水濕透，然而更大的發(fā)現(xiàn)卻是團(tuán)長周信群那只拉保險繩的手也大汗淋漓。

信心保證了她們每場演出的成功。當(dāng)決賽演出結(jié)束時，法國觀眾說“中國節(jié)目非常偉大”，別國參賽演員也向中國演員伸出大拇指，連埃索省副省長也直言不諱地說“我只想為中國節(jié)目頒獎”，后來果然是他把最高獎——“法蘭西共和國總統(tǒng)獎”頒給了中國的沈穎吟、廉蕊。她倆獲獎后淚流滿面，和團(tuán)長周信群抱在一起，哭了個痛快。這是激動的淚，為祖國爭來榮譽(yù)的淚；這是興奮的淚，經(jīng)過千錘百煉后獲得成功的淚。

從巴黎飛回中國，她們受到了英雄凱旋般的歡迎。周信群旋即接到中央電視臺邀請《脖支高椅》上春節(jié)晚會的電話，而沈穎吟、廉蕊則忙著向父母親打電話。

廉蕊家在東北，7歲會雙手倒立，被杭州雜技團(tuán)看中。進(jìn)團(tuán)后她苦練基本功，從不懈怠。9歲時，父母親千里迢迢從東北趕到西子湖畔來看女兒，見廉蕊在淡藍(lán)色的地毯上練功，渾身都是汗水，不禁嘆息：“太苦了?！被氐椒块g里就哭。小小的廉蕊倒也懂事，忙安慰父母：“練好了功就不苦，還可以出國演出呢?！睆男劬汅w操的沈穎吟也是如此，父母親來杭州雜技團(tuán)看過女兒練功后，在回嘉興的車上還在哭，可是女兒喜歡雜技，只好隨她去。當(dāng)然，隨著女兒在雜技界嶄露頭角，不時傳來出國演出的喜訊，沈穎吟、廉蕊這對姐妹花的父母親早已笑逐顏開，也領(lǐng)悟了“臺上一分鐘，臺下數(shù)年功”的道理。

兩三年前，團(tuán)長周信群思謀著對傳統(tǒng)雜技節(jié)目進(jìn)行創(chuàng)新，對原來椅子從地上疊高的節(jié)目改為用人體來支撐，在運(yùn)動中完成所有的動作。她把這一不可思議的想象交給沈穎吟、廉蕊來實施，這對她們來說確是難以言狀的挑戰(zhàn)。她們實打?qū)嵉赜?xùn)練起來，向著身體的極限沖刺。沈穎吟知道，要作好“底座”須有超越常人的腿功和脖子功。每天早上6時她就和廉蕊起來訓(xùn)練，腿練抽筋了，掛著眼淚繼續(xù)練；脖子發(fā)麻了，按摩幾下仍舊練。要在高空表演的廉蕊偏偏有恐高癥，因而她就爬梯子、爬高樓、爬山峰練膽量，然后一把椅子一把椅子往上疊、往高練。此外，還有個幕后英雄、陪練務(wù)變紅，一年360天都陪著她們練。她們的腿功在苦練中增強(qiáng)，膽量在高空中壯大，技巧在汗雨中熟練。不過這對雜技姐妹開始合練時，失手也是難免的，一次8把椅子往下砸，身在“底座”的沈穎吟趕忙伸手去擋，結(jié)果頭臉護(hù)住了，手臂卻受傷了。然而這對姐妹在訓(xùn)練中總是互相勉勵，訓(xùn)練后還互相幫著按摩，她們不怕失敗，失敗了又重新來過，這是她們進(jìn)步的階梯。記得在澳大利亞的一次演出時，一不小心椅子倒下來，廉蕊被保險繩掛在空中，觀眾大嘩。但她們倆做到了椅子在哪里倒下就在哪里重來，她們的重新表演獲得成功，喧嘩聲被掌聲代替了。此外，她們一邊演出一邊繼續(xù)創(chuàng)新，追求藝術(shù)上的完美，她們的努力沒有白費(fèi)，到了2004年意大利舉辦國際馬戲節(jié)，沈穎吟、廉蕊憑著雄厚的實力奪得了金獎。

兩年之后，這對雜技姐妹獲得法國瑪希國際馬戲節(jié)評委富有權(quán)威性的高度評價，獲獎證書上寫著：無可挑剔的創(chuàng)新，高超的技巧，完美的發(fā)揮，世界上獨(dú)一無二。

高度的贊美引來無數(shù)演出訂單：這對雜技姐妹將隨團(tuán)去芬蘭、荷蘭、英國等地再顯身手。

Acrobat Sisters Grab President Trophy in France

By Zhao Zheng， our staff reporter

It was in the early hours of January 11， 2007 that the two female acrobats and their team leader from Hangzhou， capital of eastern China 's coastal Zhejiang Province， started their road to a peerless success in the 15th International Circus Festival held in a suburb of Paris， France.

The two acrobats were 23-year-old Shen Yingyin and 13-year-old Lian Rui and their team leader was Zhou Xinqun， director of Hangzhou Acrobatics Troupe. They had just arrived in Paris the day before and the time difference made them sleepy. They needed the precious time to familiarize with the competing ground， but at that moment the circus was full of rehearsing acrobats from other countries. Zhou learned that they would have to wait till 6 in the early morning for a time slot. So they went back to the hotel. They caught cold from freezing night. After taking some medicine they went to bed. A few hours later， they arrived at the circus at 6 sharp and adjusted themselves to the new time， new ground， and new feel of the circus.

The first round of competition started and a group of Chinese acrobats from another province got eliminated due to a mistake they had made in their performance. Zhou Xinqun instantly felt the great pressure and stage fright which she had experienced years before when she was an acrobat. She knew how important it was to feel confident and assured before anything could start: the only effective way to keep out stage fright and nervousness. She checked on Sheng Yingyin and Lian Rui and had a short pep talk with them.To calm the mdown， she also played them a piece of soft music.

Zhou Xinqun used all the methods she could think of to make the pair relax. The two girls themselves encouraged each other and joked to relax. Then it was their turn. The pair staged a breathtaking performance with chairs. Sheng acted as the pedestal， putting eight chairs one upon another on her knees with a steel wire connecting her neck and the nearest chair to keep balance. Instead of standing on a firm ground， she stood on an arch ring to support the 10-meter-tall pagoda-like chairs. The 13-year-old performed a variety of stunts such as standing on one hand on the tiptop of the 8 chairs. The breathtaking performance wowed the audience and the jury. Instead of sitting there and clapping their hands as they did for the previous performances， they all stood up and applauded most warmly when Shen and Lian finished their stunning act. Off stage， the pair found themselves profusely drenched with sweat and found Zhou Xinqun had an equally sweat drenched hand that had manipulated the safety belt.

The two received the top trophy: the French President Award for their perfect and stunning performance. They wept together with Zhou Xinqun. They returned from Paris to Beijing like heroes. The CCTV invited the pair to stage their show for the whole country at the celebrating variety gala on the eve of the Chinese New Year in 2007.

It had taken Shen Yingyin and Lian Rui three years to put the performance together. Zhou Xinqun first got the idea of staging the stunt by two acrobats. Previously， the chairs were placed on the flat stage. The training was difficult and they experienced failures and injuries. In order to conquer acrophobia， Lian Rui climbed ladders， high-rise buildings and mountains to get adjusted to height. The chairs crashed in a performance in Australia， with Lian Rui dangling in the air by the safety belt. But they tried again and got it right the second time. Their performance won the heart of the audience. In 2004， the pair won a gold medal in Italy with the chairs performance.

Their high-profile success in France has won them numerous invitations for more performances in Finland， Holland and Britain and other countries.

(Translated by David)