Rola Bola is a traditional act in Chinese circus, presented here in Cirque du Soleil for the first time. Usually mastered by young men, watch a trio and their leader from the Shandong Troupe of China perform this magnificent act of balance. As one can imagine, balancing on the Bola isn't easy - and flipping bowls on top of your head is not an easy feat when you're trying to keep your balance! Performers: Hou Yi, Wang Jian, Hou Aman, Liu Qing.

Here a performer stands on a contraption atop a pair of shoulders, steadies himself on a board that balances on a cylinder, and, one by one, flips a half-dozen china bowls from one side of this footboard up through the air until they pile, one by one, on top of his head. ("The Chinese just joined the troupe this year," explains Ste. Croix, "and, frankly, the first time we all sat and watched the act, we were speechless. We couldn't believe it.")