Few names in performing arts carry the kind of weight this Montreal-born marvel does. Since the company's founding in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has completely reimagined the circus as one of humanity's greatest artistic achievements. And this big top-style event isn't going anywhere.

With past shows like Alegría, KÀ, and O, Cirque du Soleil is as close as you can get to an iconic 20th-century form of art. The spectacles the company puts on are filled with in-your-face awesomeness. And in keeping with Cirque's tradition, upcoming shows promise to take audience members a convincing — and mind-bending — step beyond reality and reason during experiences that stretch the limits of human capability. Hearing that anticipation and appreciation for the Cirque's art makes it even more impressive that the company has taken its tours artfully across the globe, with performances happening as we speak and far into the very near future. These trips to "Plays Exhibition" necessitate canonical technical expertise, infrastructure, and equipment. It's all there: specialized rigging and lift systems, custom vehicle lighting, and a significant number of "intelligent" moving lights. There's even something like a big top that allows the audience to feel the sweating of the actors and at least hint at the 3-D internal see-sawing of the acrobats. The "wow" factor is ample, and every character is a mariachi in a mask. All the artifice remains see-through. The real joy is when the moving parts stop long enough to allow the audience a few moments of wonder at the nearly unimaginable skill (and trust) that must exist between the performers and their directors. The next time they get the call to "go to the mat," fake an "O," or do something else similarly idiotic, just say no and head downtown. Scenes cannot fully capture the three-dimensionality of these productions. The performers inhabit vertical space from the stage floor to the ceiling, forming living statues that audiences encounter up close and personal. And up close is where the play is meant to work its magic. The video of a live performance reduces the act. You lose the peripheral presence of ensemble actors who aren't in the camera's narrow field of view. You lose the immediacy that lets the music vibrate in your chest or lets you hear a whisper from the couch.

Many fans will tell you that their appreciation for the performing arts grew in the moment they were first in the presence of a particular play. They were grateful to live close enough to a live performance of something conceived and delivered with the human body. You may make the scene. You may soon feel very lucky indeed. This strategy shifts what could be a nerve-wracking search into a simple exercise. You're not working with dimly lit operations of the secondary ticket market or trading in the hope that unlicensed sellers will deliver what you've paid for. Instead, this setup takes you straight to the access you desperately desire (and there's really no other way to put that). It's a series of performances that are worth it for the sheer insanity of it all — a kind of event in which there's just as much peace of mind involved as there are actual tickets. And since we're living in a post-9/11 world of scams and terrorism, that counts for a lot.

Cirque du Soleil Tour Information

What to expect at a Cirque du Soleil show

What's being offered is not just one kind of thing. For the most part, these are James Bond-style events (held in posh hotels, or what look like them, but even way out in the desert at Hualapai Canyon) that last as long as the "x" in the title (that'd be two days) and happen as promised. In short, there's far more certainty involved here than there would be in relying on any other method of acquisition. Recent shows incorporate ever more sophisticated technology while upholding the fundamental philosophy: the indispensable human art and artisanal work, not some techno-wow factor, are what power these performances.

Permanent Residencies and Touring Shows

When Cirque set up shop in Las Vegas, it quickly became the town's most interesting presence. World-famous "resort hotels with integrated synongboos" were all around Las Vegas, not in the least its downtown area. Critics seemed to think some of these operations would be up to par with what Cirque opened. For some 12 years, 1999 to 2011, Cirque called the Meadows Mall its desert home in the rather unfrequentable north end of Las Vegas; after a bon voyage, it next found a dock at the spring break Mecca of South Beach, Miami, where it performed with a Chinese drum act, Firepower, Monsa the Mermaid, or one of its instruments of dreams in the Dreamland experience, as well as in a circus tent.

The technical demands of the show are so great that only purpose-built locations can house it, a signal of the company's unwavering dedication to bending the limits of physical forms beyond even what an architectural draft permits. Nonetheless, once it finds such a stage, the array of spectacles in "Alegría" (which means "jubilation" in Spanish) makes it not only one of the most popular Cirque du Soleil shows but also one that is often hailed as the most emotionally engaging. For one thing, the fabulations of power, transformation, and mortality that the show orchestrates — via the kind of almost preposterous salon bridgework and "swish" set pieces that have long marked both the cabaret world and, of course, the kind of circus world within which a zillion dollars of human capital from dozens of countries can work themselves through endless combinations of physical storytelling. Tracking systems keep you informed throughout the delivery process. They eliminate the on-the-edge feeling you might get when making a resale purchase of a show ticket. Stay in touch with the delivery department until your buy goes through; do not feel at ease until you see the lights go up. You must be vigilant in finding new ways to a port of call to assure you get home safely. Besides performing in temporary on-demand tour stops, the national and international branch of this entertainment empire has set up shop in many "lasting" installations within auditoriums, concert halls, and theaters of local communities. It has set down the same "tent" that it might emerge from the next day in another gig somewhere else. The group also feels mightily compelled to run around as far as it can to cover a realm that is not just wide but is also a whole lot more densely packed with mega-events (often with accompanying debuts) than it was in the past. Following a financial reorganization, the company seems set on a path of balancing the revenue from its permanent residency in Las Vegas with the new set of touring shows that the company takes to fresh audiences around the country, and even internationally. Observers of the industry expect announcements in the coming months on some of the new creative partnerships and productions that are going to arise. While it is doubtful that anyone will surpass the circus vocabulary this company has mastered, we have seen certain groups and companies try to match their "wow" factor and have even integrated some of the circus's act vocabulary into their work. The show's producers constantly reach deeper into a contemporary theme — that's what makes the "wow" factor you're going to see, hear, or visit on a nerve-jangling journey to the dark side of the contemporary circus arts.