Tour news: Cirque du Soleil - Quidam

Cirque du Soleil - Quidam.

Cirque du Soleil returns to New Zealand next year with its iconic show, Quidam, last seen on our shores in 2005.

Kiwi audiences will be able to see what will be the final performances of the show's near 20-year run.

Featuring visually impressive acts including Italian Banquine acrobatics, aerial contortions in silk, juggling and contemporary clowning, Quidam is a feast for the senses that its artistic director Marjon Van Grunsven describes as being "both dramatic and exquisitely sad".

"It's important ... the audience knows that because I'm sure that our cast and our crew are going to need their support through to get through these last both beautiful and very sad days for them," she says.

"For the audience it will be very special, because it's going to be loaded with energy and history and stories and tears and happiness and pride."

Although it has its dark moments, Quidam can be enjoyed by both young and old - and one of Van Grunsven's favourite things to do is to observe the individual reactions of the audience, particularly those of the younger members.

"Yesterday there was a child, I think she was about 5, sitting right behind me ... she was laughing so much and was having such a great time, I was so relieved because I could tell that obviously for children this show is wonderful as well.

"It's really like a dream come true.

"We all have imaginations and I think you may be able to connect back to when you were younger, when you were actually allowing yourself to dream."

Van Grunsven's enthusiasm for the show is contagious and her descriptions are peppered with adjectives like "incredible" and "life-changing". "If you get to see this show you're such a lucky human being," she says. "Come with an open mind, leave all the happenings in your life outside at the door, just sit and take it in."

Quidam tells the story of a little girl named Zoe, who is bored with life and isolated from her parents who are preoccupied with serious matters. Retreating into her imagination, she falls into the world of Quidam via a strange passer-by who gives her a magical hat.

Though the 2005 Auckland season was performed in a circus tent, this version will play at Auckland's Vector Arena between February 5 and 14 before it heads to Christchurch's Horncastle Arena for a February 18-21 run.

• Tickets go on sale to Cirque Club members from tomorrow and to the general public from August 27.

- TimeOut