ACROBAT Tight-Wire Feats

Known as "Rope-Walking" or "Walking on a rope" in ancient China, it is a traditional performance dating back 2000 years to the Han Dynasty. Walking on a wire instead of a rope is a renovation illustrating new vigor and skills. The acrobat uses somersault dexterity, which is a basic acrobatic skill, to perform such difficult feats as cart-wheels and somersaults on a trembling wire.

http://library.thinkquest.org/20443/acrobatics.html