FLORENCE – The University of North Alabama Distinguished Event Series is dedicated to the cultural enrichment of the students of UNA and local communities. The series brings nationally and globally renown individuals, organizations, and ensembles to the university; most events are free. This upcoming event will be the New Shanghai Circus. The show will be on Sunday, February 24 at 2 p.m. Norton Auditorium and admission is free . No ticket required!
Considered to be China’s most celebrated acrobatic company, the performers of the New Shanghai 
Circus have stunned audiences everywhere they perform. Celebrating the exotic wonders of China while showcasing dramatic interpretation of ancient dances, the show combines extraordinary and inventive feats of strength and skill, control and balance. Bring your family to the show that presents a line-up of favorite acts such as Diablo (Chinese Yo-Yo), Bicycle Tricks, Pole Climbing, Plates Spinning, Human Top, Chair Stack and more.
It was during the Han Dynasty, more than two thousand years ago, that the Chinese saw the first acrobats, magicians, and jugglers. Acrobatics, 
with amazing skill of strength and impossible balance, developed out of the annual village harvest celebrations. Chinese farmers and village craftsmen, with relatively little to do over the long winter decided to spend their time improving their societal positions by becoming acrobats. They practiced the art form with just about anything they could find around the house and farm. . . cups, saucers, tables, chairs, plates . . . Even their own bodies, with which they formed human walls and pyramids. Every year in the fall the village’s peasants would join in the village to share in a celebration of a bountiful harvest . . .a sort of Chinese Thanksgiving.
It was at this time that the common people would show off their skills by 
performing fun and exciting feats of daring and strength using household tools and common items found around the farm and workshop. Building on the traditional performances, today’s artists have added new techniques and spectacular stunts thrilling audiences around the globe. Highly skilled, 
rigorously trained, and superbly talented, these performers follow an unbroken tradition since 700 BC.
This will be one BIG FAMILY SHOW!
