Tuesday night, the Fred Garbo Inflatable Theatre Co. graced Rice Auditorium and its audience with a world of color, movement, music and inflatable objects as a part of Baker University’s Artist & Lecture Series.

Performer Fred Garbo said 18 years ago, he took a break from show business and went skydiving. When he looked at his parachute, he not only saw color and a strong, easy to pack material, he saw a prop. Soon after, he created a whole show using the material.

After he had the show figured out, Garbo said he decided he needed a partner. He talked to a lot of possibilities but met ballerina Daielma Santos in Brazil. Santos has been a part of the performance for the past 16 years.

“I used to be a ballerina. I’ve studied ballet all my life,” Santos said. “Then I did juggling and mime after I started working with Fred.”

The show, which is mostly geared for children, also has an appeal to the older generations, Garbo said. He believes there is definitely something worthwhile that college students can take away from the show.

“We’re adults having fun, and we’re making a living off of something we created,” Garbo said.

Susan Buehler, director of the Artist & Lecture Series committee, said she not only liked the creativity, costumes and dancing but hopes her students paid close attention to the music and how it supplemented and went along with the show.

“It was kind of a nice way to integrate the arts,” Buehler said.

Santos said the show takes a lot of work and rehearsing but is worth it and has given her the chance to travel not only the country but the globe. She also said she likes the unique quality of the show.

“What I love about the show is that it allows us to create and do things we like, and no one else does it, so it’s unique and fun,” Santos said.

Junior Katie Bettis said she liked the creativity but also paid close attention to the theatrical aspects of the show. She noted the timing of the show was great, making it look improvised when really, a lot of time goes into the planning of each show.

“I really liked the energy and how well they could play off each other,” Bettis said.

The show, which Santos said made it from Switzerland to Canada and even stopped on Broadway, used to run about 100 times each year and has slowed down to about 60 shows every year.

The performance was the first of many in this year’s Artist & Lecture Series lineup. Buehler said a song and dance group of about nine people is coming the weekend of Maple Leaf Festival, and on Oct. 29, a singing group called Octarium will perform at the First United Methodist Church of Baldwin City.