It was a taste of the sublime.

But in the 20 minutes that the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats performed their stunts, they captivated and thrilled the senses of nearly 300 people Wednesday afternoon at the Evanston Public Library.

The audience, made up mostly of young children, “oohed” and “ahhed” at the acrobats’ presentation of music, bright colors and fantastic feats, said Kate Todd, library executive secretary. The group, which hails from China, currently is touring the United States.

Although the event didn’t last long, director Neal Ney said the performance was not short on excitement.

The group’s five women, dressed in pink silk, flung dumbbell-shaped Chinese yo-yos through the air with sticks and string. The different-sized yo-yos whistled through the air, accentuating the traditional Chinese music emanating from the library boombox, Ney said.

In its second routine, the group’s only man not only juggled large vases, but also spun them on his head.

Todd said the short performance aimed merely to “whet appetites” for the acrobats’ two-hour ticketed show Saturday at the Northshore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., in Skokie.

Todd said that one audience member had seen the troupe perform in China.

Todd said she expects Saturday’s performance to be better than the free library show because the arts center has fewer physical limitations than the Evanston library’s first-floor community meeting room, where the group performed before a large audience crammed on the floor.

“Because of our low ceilings, we were not able to have the ‘death-defying’ feats,” Todd said.

Event organizers said they thought audience turn-out was good, and that its reaction after the show was even better.

“A few people told me they thought it was a great show, and that they were glad to see it,” Ney said.

More importantly, Todd said, “I think the children really liked it.”

The library regularly partners with the promotions department at the arts center, Ney said.

In the spring a group called Midnight Circus, a theater group that uses circus elements to tell stories, put on a free pre-show performance similar to the acrobats’ showcase.

“One hopes that we are attracting people to the library who are going to look around,” Ney said. “Also, in some respects, it’s just a way of raising the visibility of the library in the community.”