The Peking Acrobats(r), a troupe of China's most talented tumblers, contortionists, jugglers, gymnasts and cyclists, will present their version of a Chinese carnival at Coastal Carolina University on Friday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. in Wheelwright Auditorium.

Admission is $30 first floor, section I; $25 first floor, section II and balcony. Students 18 and under receive a $5 discount.

Since their debut in 1986, The Peking Acrobats have redefined Chinese acrobatics. They perform daring maneuvers atop a precarious pagoda of chairs, are experts at treacherous wire-walking, trick-cycling, precision tumbling, somersaulting, gymnastics, and defy gravity with amazing displays of contortion, flexibility and control.

The Peking Acrobats have been featured on numerous television shows and movies including "ABC's Wide World of Sports," "Ocean's 11" and "Oceans 12." They set the world record for the Human Chair Stack on "Fox's Guinness Book Primetime" TV show where they balanced six people atop six chairs 21 feet up in the air without safety lines.

The history of Chinese acrobatics is rich in tradition and dates back over 2,000 years. Throughout the history of China, the acrobatic arts have flourished. The varied acts of tumbling, singing, dancing and juggling became known as "The Hundred Entertainments" during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). Records of acrobatic acts can be found as early as the Ch'in Dynasty (221 B.C. - 207 B.C.). Chinese acrobats through the ages have continued to perfect what has become an evolving folk art form.

For more information or to reserve tickets, call Wheelwright Box Office at 349-2502.