Cirque du Soleil’s “Alegria”

Sad, scruffy lions held at bay with whips, embarrassed elephants performing pratfalls for a peanut. Let’s face it, old-style circuses seem fairly tawdry these days. Not so with Cirque du Soleil, which breathes new life into the big top by focusing on its dazzling array of human stunt artists—aerial acrobatics and daring trapeze-work, leavened with a bit of mime and clownery, lush costuming and a soundtrack rich on New Age and world beats. This self-conscious reinvention of the circus (one of the troupe’s early shows, in fact, was called “We Reinvent the Circus”) brought the same frenetic energy to the medium that Hong Kong directors brought to the action film. It’s turned out to be potently popular, growing the Quebecois troupe into a world-spanning tumbler’s empire of more than 1,000 people, with seven touring shows running simultaneously. Oh, sure, the shows are not immune to that peculiar French tendency to interject some loopy philosophy into otherwise unpretentious entertainment. “Alegria,” the performance coming our way, has some kind of bizarre theme involving “ancient monarchies evolving into contemporary democracies.” How a stiltwalker will school us on political science isn’t entirely clear, but that won’t take away from the synchronized somersaults and high-speed choreography, which were breathtaking to behold when we caught Soleil’s “Dralion” a few years back. “Alegria” includes an athletic mix of Mongolian contortionists, a flaming-knife juggler, and vaulting trampolinists who combine the best of gymnastics and modern dance. Eat your heart out, P.T. Barnum. 2nd St. S. and 10th Ave. S., (800) 450-1480, $45-$65,