''Balancing Acts'' is a 2005 documentary film by Donna Schatz that chronicles the lives of Chinese

acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...

Man-Fong Tong and his wife Magda Schweitzer, a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

from

Budapest, Hungary Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. 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 business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

. While tenacious Magda and her partner Joe Mady - who was at least a foot taller - came up with a

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

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 ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

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 Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

officials, including

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. 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."

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0455337, Balancing Acts
Inside the Balancing Acts of Chinese Acrobat Man-Fong Tong
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071010092626/http://www.documentarychannel.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=86 ''The Southern Jewish Store'' is an earlier documentary by director Donna Schatz br>Information about director Donna Schatz and her latest work ''99 Geiger Road''
2005 television films 2005 films American documentary films Documentary films about Jews and Judaism 2005 documentary films Documentary films about circus performers 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films

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