Despite its showy jungle setting, the aerialists are the stars of "Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy," playing this week at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. Working its way to a summer opening on Broadway, the show — unaffiliated with Cirque du Soleil — is a themed circus in the European style, created and directed by Neil Goldberg.

The jungle fantasy theme means a cast decked out in striped and spotted body stockings, sprouting fur and feathers and stylized makeup. An otherwise bare stage is flanked by twisted tree trunks and backed by a leafy mural, while murky lighting and florescent highlights enhance the dreamlike quality.

Continuity is provided by a "Jungleboy" comic gymnast (Marcello Balestracci,) a "Lady Bug Vocalist" (Julia Langley) and a muscle-bound "Soul Tree Violinist" (Jared Burnett). The last two also deliver a new age/pop musical score backed up by full orchestration.

The cast is a collection of gymnasts, acrobats, dancers and contortionists with heavily Slavic origins. There is a lot to see and hear, and it's hard to pick a favorite from several stunning flying acts.

A "Swinging Vines" routine features Denys Kucher and Vitalii Lykov, both from Ukraine, hanging from a pair of canvas lines and striking a series of effortless poses. A couple of "Butterfliers" — Sergey Parshin and Naomi Sampson – use a pair of tie-dyed fabric panels as they artfully circle above the stage.

And "Owls On a Perch" features Ivan Dotsenko and Carly Sheridan hanging from a traditional trapeze — and each other — as they work through a remarkable routine of physical control and excellent timing.

There is plenty of other talent as well.

Four contortionists create a veritable snake pit of entwining arms and legs. Vladimir Dovgan and Anatoliy share a duet balancing act atop a giraffe table while Serguei Slavski and Alexander Tolstikov appear as "Jungle Kings" using simply their own bodies in a powerfully artful gymnastics routine.

Perhaps the best visual success in the show is a pair of dancing emus. Human legs support a feathery body and a human arm and hand extend upward to create the emu neck and head. We can identify the component parts, but their animal creation is so delightfully convincing that we readily accept the result. Happily, they appear often throughout the production.

The show also includes jugglers and rope jumpers. But if you're looking for something completely different, watch for the Junglehairialist (Stefka Iordanova,) who spins 12 feet above the stage hanging only by her ponytail.

It's a jungle fantasy, indeed.

Joseph T. Rozmiarek has been reviewing theater performances in Hawai'i since 1973.