Lantz Gymnasium will be transformed into an imaginary world filled with acrobats, illusions, dancers and jugglers later this month.

Family weekend’s main attraction this year is the Cirque Eos, a world-renowned troupe of performers from Quebec that combines traditional circus acrobatics with theater.

The event will be at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, and tickets are now on sale.

“Entertainment for family weekend has a new twist,” said Ceci Brinker, Student Life director. “We thought we would do something unique and out of the ordinary.”

Brinker explained the Cirque Eos is fashioned after the more well-known Cirque du Soliel.

“It’s a celebration of music, dance, acrobatics and comedy,” she said. “We think it’s going to be an exciting, fun-filled event with a lot of dazzling choreography and special effects.”

The 75-minute performance will include eight very high-caliber routines, said Anne May, company manager.

The theme of the performance is “Imaginaire,” which means imaginary in French, May said.

“The show is the basic story line of a young man who is torn between the world around him and his imaginary world,” she said.

The performance will feature two types of characters: the imaginary characters with very colorful costumes who perform the aerial stunts and the real world characters called “urbans.”

“The message is to the youth,” she said. “It’s okay to dream, but, once in a while, your feet should come back to Earth.”

Born out of the Quebec School of Circus Arts, May said the troupe has been performing together since 1998 and contains 18 members.

Brinker said this particular performance has been selling out in larger cities at big and small venues.

“We invite the Charleston and campus communities to take advantage of, what I would consider, a once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience coming to campus,” Brinker said.

“What we’re trying to do is bring some of the magic of the circus to campus, to the students and to parents.”

Tickets are $20 each for reserved seating and can be purchased in the Business Operations Office of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union during regular office hours.

Brinker said plenty of tickets are still available, “but we’re filling out ticket order forms everyday.”