If you’re going for a spectacle, go see "Alegría," the touring production from Cirque du Soleil. If you want to laugh, go see "Alegría." If you want to be awestruck by the creativity of the human mind and the diverse capabilities of the human body, go see "Alegría."

"Alegría," which plays at the Blaisdell Arena through Halloween, is deeply satisfying entertainment, the kind that amazes you for its ingenuity while at the same time pleasing you with its beauty.

Cirque creators pride themselves on taking the extra step with their acts, many of which are based on traditional circus. Thus its trampoline act, called Power Track, features 14 acrobats leaping, flipping and spinning across an X-shaped trampoline.

It’s all done fast and it’s all done big, as in flips in full layout position and triple somersaults. All the while, a frumpy, birdlike character scrambles among the acrobats, coming within inches of being squashed. This represents the "youth vs. establishment" theme of the show. It is a subtle theme, but it adds to the fun throughout.

The smaller acts are no less satisfying. Twin contortionists entwine their bodies around each other like pretzel dough, their bodies bending as elegantly as a swan’s neck. They would be unbeatable at Twister. A hula hoop act turns that geekiest of toys into a visual spectacle, making it look like the performer is juggling huge bubbles.

Flames leap out from the Samoan fire-knife dancers, featuring Honolulu native Micah Naruo, making it look as easy as waving a sparkler, which the state wants to ban for being too dangerous. Yeah, right.

The clowns are hilarious. With vocal effects reminiscent of C3P0 in "Star Wars" and the adult voices in the "Charlie Brown" television shows, they bring in all manner of pop references from hip-hop to "The Karate Kid." They weaving intricate story lines that everyone from child to adult can relate to. (Viewers may recognize an act known as "Slava’s Snowstorm," which has played here as a separate show. It originated with "Alegría.")

No act failed to get its requisite oohs, aahs and cheers, but the finale, the high-bar trapeze act, was particularly impressive. In a typical trapeze, the flier is being flung upward from the swing, creating that moment of weightlessness when the tricks can be done and the catch can be set up. I’m not saying it’s easy, but you can see how it’s done.

"Alegría’s" trapeze has the fliers doing high-bar routines from a scaffold, releasing and then flying downward to the catchers, who are hanging from a swing dangling below the scaffold. Maybe it is just as easy as the traditional trapeze, but these fliers seem to be free-falling downward for some distance before they are caught. My stomach had already fallen out by then.

A word of advice for people who are habitually late. Show time Friday night was officially 7:30 p.m., but some of the characters were out among the crowd a few minutes earlier, hamming it up. It is worth it to be around for that. You don’t want to miss a minute.