Flipped out over vegetarianism: acrobat Wayne Huey's diet nearly ended his career

Vegetarian Times, Jan, 1995 by Joan Aragone

When crowds at Disney World's EPCOT Center watch the Red Panda Acrobat Troupe perform, they're probably not thinking about food. Instead, they're focused on Wayne Huey contorting his body like a pretzel, and balancing plates and glasses of water on his nose.

Audiences might be surprised, however, to learn that Huey's food choices nearly put an end to his career. A vegetarian since high school, Huey was almost rejected from acrobatic training in China because he didn't eat meat.

Born in the United States of Chinese parents and raised in San Francisco, Huey was the first non-native to apply for admittance to China's government-run Shanghai Acrobatic/Circus School, training ground for the prestigious Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe. Huey had studied gymnastics and acrobatics in San Francisco and Taiwan, but he believed that studying in China was the only way to reach the top. "China has a tradition of acrobatics that goes back 2,500 years," says Huey. "It's like baseball or football in the USA; every province has a troupe. To advance to the highest levels I knew I had to go to China."

The fact that Huey was raised in the United States was enough of a drawback; officials considered foreigners too weak to endure the rigorous training program. And once they discovered Huey didn't eat meat, their skepticism increased. "Vegetarianism is very rare in China," says Huey. "With my diet, they didn't think I would have the stamina and strength to pursue the training." The officials did allow Huey to audition; he won entrance to the school, but his eating habits continued to draw attention. The students ate meals communally, and nearly everything was stir-fried, often in meat-based oil. Huey, who asked for steamed, vegetarian food, eventually felt so uncomfortable that he ate in his room. "It wasn't easy, being vegetarian," he says, with his typical understatement.

Huey's age when he enrolled was yet another obstacle; at 25, he was considered an old man. "Most Chinese acrobats start training as young children and retire at 30," says Huey, now 32. "I had to keep reminding myself of my goals and purposes."

Acrobatic training in China is rigorous and can last as long as seven years. Huey's determination got him through two years at the school, during which he learned Mandarin at night and met his Chinese wife, Nancy, a member of the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe and the daughter of professional acrobats in northern China. After the couple married in 1990, they moved in with her parents; Nancy worked in the provincial acrobatic troupe while Wayne studied daily with his in-laws.

Wayne returned to the United States with Nancy in 1992, where they formed the Red Panda Troupe. Their hard work and discipline finally paid off when a Disney scout spotted the pair at the New Year's parade in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1993; the couple began performing at EPCOT the following summer. The troupe recently expanded to four members, who wow the crowds five days a week. Huey's assessment of the group's success is, as usual, modest: "We're keeping busy and doing well."