Balancing Acts
Encyclopedia
Balancing Acts is a 2005 documentary
by Donna Schatz that chronicles the lives of Chinese
acrobat
Man-Fong Tong and his wife Magda Schweitzer, a Jewish acrobat
from Budapest, Hungary. The two met in Europe on the eve of World War II. They were both at the peak of their careers, performing at the Moulin Rouge and Cirque Medrano, and alongside acts such as Maurice Chevalier and Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. While their careers were full of success, the spread of Nazism brought them great hardships. Their marriage saw the trials of wartime Europe, post-war poverty, the birth of two sons, and a difficult ten-year separation from one another.
. While tenacious Magda and her partner Joe Mady - who was at least a foot taller - came up with a slapstick
routine, Man-Fong teamed up with two other male acrobats, and, dressed in sharp suits with slicked back hair, the three performed their unique balancing act without ever breaking a sweat.
Magda and Man-Fong traveled with their acts throughout Europe. Magda was in Africa, too, and both entertained in the US. In the 1950s in the United States, Tong performed on the Ed Sullivan Show an unprecedented five times. Magda bragged that her act was the answer to the clue “best European act” in a Viennese crossword puzzle.
They married in Stockholm in 1940. Only three months later, Man-Fong, in Germany for the last time, was invited to perform for a private audience of top ranking Nazi officials, including Adolf Hitler
. Although he tried to refuse, he had little choice but to reluctantly comply.
During World War II, Magda and Man-Fong's commitment to one another kept them secure and grounded. When the ever increasing grip of Nazism in many parts of Europe made both travel and work impossible for Jews, they returned to unoccupied Hungary where Magda took up the unglamorous role of a housewife, while Man-Fong continued to work and provide for the family. Later, Man-Fong had to leave his wife and two young boys in order to find work, first in the Middle East, then in Europe and the United States.
The couple always stayed true to show business. “I think Mom and Dad have always been, to some extent, competitive because they've been used to being in the limelight and used to the applause,” the couple's son explains. “If dad was putting together an act or doing a show, mom wanted to get into the act too—and get attention.”
Other documentaries about international Jewry:
Other links relevant to Balancing Acts:
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Donna Schatz that chronicles the lives of Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
acrobat
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
Man-Fong Tong and his wife Magda Schweitzer, a Jewish acrobat
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
from Budapest, Hungary. The two met in Europe on the eve of World War II. They were both at the peak of their careers, performing at the Moulin Rouge and Cirque Medrano, and alongside acts such as Maurice Chevalier and Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. While their careers were full of success, the spread of Nazism brought them great hardships. Their marriage saw the trials of wartime Europe, post-war poverty, the birth of two sons, and a difficult ten-year separation from one another.
Summary
Director Donna Schatz's Balancing Acts pairs archival footage and photographs of Magda Schweitzer and Man-Fong Tong's acts with private home videos and interviews to tell their life stories. Magda and Man-Fong both left their families at age sixteen to pursue careers in show businessShow business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
. While tenacious Magda and her partner Joe Mady - who was at least a foot taller - came up with a slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
routine, Man-Fong teamed up with two other male acrobats, and, dressed in sharp suits with slicked back hair, the three performed their unique balancing act without ever breaking a sweat.
They married in Stockholm in 1940. Only three months later, Man-Fong, in Germany for the last time, was invited to perform for a private audience of top ranking Nazi officials, including Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. Although he tried to refuse, he had little choice but to reluctantly comply.
During World War II, Magda and Man-Fong's commitment to one another kept them secure and grounded. When the ever increasing grip of Nazism in many parts of Europe made both travel and work impossible for Jews, they returned to unoccupied Hungary where Magda took up the unglamorous role of a housewife, while Man-Fong continued to work and provide for the family. Later, Man-Fong had to leave his wife and two young boys in order to find work, first in the Middle East, then in Europe and the United States.
The couple always stayed true to show business. “I think Mom and Dad have always been, to some extent, competitive because they've been used to being in the limelight and used to the applause,” the couple's son explains. “If dad was putting together an act or doing a show, mom wanted to get into the act too—and get attention.”
See also
Other documentaries about international Jewry:
- A Home on the RangeA Home on the RangeA Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma is a 2002 documentary by Bonnie Burt and Judith Montell about a group of Jews who fled from pogroms in Eastern Europe and prejudice in America to organized a socialist society in rural Northern California, where they relied on raising...
- From Swastika to Jim CrowFrom Swastika to Jim CrowFrom Swastika to Jim Crow is a 2000 documentary that explores the similarities between Nazism in Germany and racism in the American south . In 1939, the Nazi government expelled Jewish scholars from German universities...
- My Yiddish Momme McCoy
- Professional RevolutionaryProfessional RevolutionaryProfessional Revolutionary: The Life of Saul Wellman is a documentary about the life of Saul Wellman.-Summary:“I want things to change, where the playing field is leveled,” Wellman says, “where equality emerges as a reality...where the horrible things about inequality are...
- Song of a Jewish CowboySong of a Jewish CowboySong of a Jewish Cowboy is a 2002 documentary about Scott Gerber, a rancher and musician from Sonoma County, California, who sings cowboy music and Yiddish folk songs. The documentary shows clips from his performances and a personal interview with Scott....
- Jews of Iran
- The Jewish SteppeThe Jewish SteppeThe Jewish Steppe is a 2001 documentary about a group of Russian Jews who, exhausted by prejudice and fearful of pogroms, left their homeland to farm the untamed Crimean Peninsula...
- Queen of the MountainQueen of the MountainQueen of the Mountain is a 2005 documentary about Theresa Goell, a middle-aged Jewish mother from Brooklyn who, in 1947, left her husband and son to dig beneath the Sanctuary of Nemrud Dagh...
- Next Year in ArgentinaNext Year in ArgentinaNext Year in Argentina is a 2005 documentary about diaspora Jews, who have either decided to remain in Argentina or move to Israel...
- LubomlLubomlLuboml may refer to:* Liuboml, a city in Ukraine* Luboml: My Heart Remembers, a documentary...
- In Search of HappinessIn Search of HappinessIn Search of Happiness is a 2005 Russian documentary film that poetically follows the lives of Boris and Masha Rak, Soviet Jews who in 1934 moved to the Jewish Autonomous Oblast created by the order of Joseph Stalin in Russian Far East...
Other links relevant to Balancing Acts:
- Ed Sullivan Show
- Chinese variety artChinese variety artChinese Variety Art is the name giving to the collection of performances that include a wide range of acrobatic, balancing acts and other spectacles performed by a troupe fashioned in traditional Chinese-style attire...
- AcrobaticsAcrobaticsAcrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
- Physical comedyPhysical comedyPhysical comedy, also known as slapstick, is a comedic performance relying mostly on the use of the body to convey humour.Physical comedy, whether conveyed by a pratfall , a silly face, or the action of walking into walls, is a common and rarely subtle form of comedy...
- Physical theatrePhysical theatrePhysical theatre is used to describe any mode of performance that pursues storytelling or drama through primarily and secondarily physical and mental means. There are several quite distinct but indistinct traditions of performance which all describe themselves using the term "physical theatre",...
External links
- Inside the Balancing Acts of Chinese Acrobat Man-Fong Tong
- A short video excerpt of Balancing Acts (Quicktime) -scroll down a bit on the linked page
- The Southern Jewish Store is an earlier documentary by director Donna Schatz
- Information about director Donna Schatz and her latest work 99 Geiger Road
- A link to Manny Tong's biography published in 2008, entitled Balancing Acts, with a short chapter excerpt)