The Golden Dragon Acrobats wowed both students and families with their body-bending performance of Cirque D'or in the Student Activities Center Thursday, Sept. 10.
"It was ridiculous," said Aaron Bartlett, a senior in electrical and wireless engineering. "It's very impressive what these people do."
The Golden Dragon Acrobats is a group of 16- to 23-year-old performance artists who perform feats of balance and athleticism all over the world, according to Randy Williamson, the production manager for the Golden Dragon Acrobats.
"They're all Olympic-caliber athletes," Williamson said.
The Golden Dragon Acrobats is currently performing its latest show, Cirque D'or in the U.S.
Cirque D'or is French for Golden Circus.
"This current tour started in August and will finish in May," Williamson said.
Williamson said he loves the extensive touring schedule of the Golden Dragon Acrobats.
"In May, I'm out of a job," Williamson said.
Williamson may not have to worry about his future employment opportunities; he has worked as the Golden Dragon Acrobats production manager and road manager since 1994.
"The kids are terrific. I love them," Williamson said. "It's one of those fresh minds, fresh ideas things. It keeps me young."
That freshness is what brought the Golden Dragon Acrobats back to The Plains for the second year in a row.
"They came last year and it's a totally new show happening tonight," said Elise Pace, the director of fine arts for the University Program Council (UPC). "We had such a good turn out last year that it was a good thing to bring back."
Pace was certain people would come out for the Golden Dragon Acrobats this year.
"Since it's a free show we knew that a lot of people would show up," Pace said.
Both students and families were invited to the event, which is not typical for UPC events.
"Mostly UPC is a student-run organization for students, but we will advertise that the public is welcome if they are," said Victoria Dominic, director of public relations for UPC. "I would say we have about four or five (public) events a semester."
Students who attended the show were in awe of the Golden Dragon Acrobats' abilities.
"I can't believe they can do that," said Tyler Baxter, a freshman in musical theater. "People have bones, bones can break."
Baxter said his favorite part of the performance was the last individual act in which one of the acrobats performed handstands and contortions on an increasingly taller stack of chairs.
"He was about 20 feet in the air," Baxter said. "It was awesome."
This feat may seem extraordinary to the untrained eye, but for Williamson it is just another work day.
"The first thing any of (the acrobats) learns is how to do a good handstand," Williamson said.
Bartlett enjoyed the portion of the show that highlighted two of the acrobats' contortionist abilities and core body strength.
"My favorite part was probably the strength and conditioning part where the guys in the purple suits and the masks were picking each other up in ridiculous ways and flipping each other," Bartlett said. "It was completely ridiculous."
Shannon Polkowski, a senior in exercise science, said she enjoyed her first experience with the Golden Dragon Acrobats.
"I'm pretty thoroughly impressed actually; it was pretty intense," Polkowski said. "I always watch it on TV, but I've never been."
Polkowski's future patients do not need to feel concerned with Polkowski's enjoyment of acrobatics. Polkowski said she would never make her clients attempt anything the Golden Dragon Acrobats did.
"Heck no, I would never do that," Polkowski said. "It puts too much strain on the body."
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