Cirque du Soleil, adored for its imaginative and inventive theatrics, will plant roots in Honolulu, its newest turf, when it brings "Saltimbanco," its oldest show, to Blaisdell Arena beginning Thursday.

It takes precision, agility and artistry — on and off stage — to recreate the aerobic and gymnastic splendors that fill the eye and ear.

There's a lone ex-Honolulan in the mix, always a plus for a touring company.

"Saltimbanco" is one of 20 productions playing worldwide — an expanding franchise with six extravaganzas anchored in Las Vegas, including the newest, "Criss Angel Believe," premiering next week at the Luxor; and "Wintuk," also debuting next week at the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

"Saltimbanco" — from the Italian "saltare in banco," it literally means "to jump on a bench" — began in a tent in 1992 and only last year was reconfigured and expanded for hard-top (arena) venues.

The Honolulu visit will be the longest stay — 25 performances for nearly three weeks, through Nov. 16. "Saltimbanco" will be staged in a three-quarter proscenium format in Blaisdell Arena, which now boasts a new air conditioning system and new blue-hued cushioned seats.

Troupers range in age from 19 to 47, and come from 21 countries. It takes an additional 45 traveling techies and crew to mount the show and tend to all aspects of production — and another 140 temporary local hires to augment the backstage staffing needs.

To get to the heartbeat of "Saltimbanco," we talked by phone with performers while they were in Milwaukee — the last stop before Honolulu.

THE LOCAL GIRL

Malia Nani Jones, the lone Islander in "Saltimbanco," is enjoying life on the road particularly because of the physical ups and downs of gymnastics.

"I just love performing on stage," she said. "I've been with the company for almost two years and have been a gymnast for 18 years, and I gave up competition to perform on stage."

She was born in Hawai'i, and was adopted. "My birth mother still is in Hawai'i and I have a sister in Hawai'i, whom I've never met," Jones said. "But they know I'm coming."

Jones got into the Cirque circle the old-fashioned way after four years on the University of California at Los Angeles' gymnastic team. "I sent in a resume with a demo DVD, then auditioned in Las Vegas," she said.

She initially performed in "Dragone" for two years before venturing into "Saltimbanco," where her Baroque character is named Delinquante, a fitting moniker. "I am kind of a brat in the group (in context of the show), and I mess with everyone," Jones said.

Jones also is a flier in a Russian segment, takes part in a Chinese poles sequence, and gets to do her gym-dandy thing in a bungee plunge at the finale.

"Competing is nerve-wracking," she said. "Performing is a lot more fun; audiences are not judging you. If you mess up, they root for you (to try to recover).

"What I truly like about Cirque is that it's very emotional, with wonderful music and costumes," she said. "I watch, and it's a moving experience. I can get away and escape from everyday life — be someone else, without worries of traffic and paying taxes."

THE CLOWN

As Eddy, the resident clown in "Saltimbanco," Amo Gullinelo is a man of few words.

"I'm a trained theatrical actor and I've done theater, Shakespeare, and have studied physical acting in France, but not at a clown school," said Gullinelo. "My main skills are mime, sound effects and improv. I say little, but my language is sound effects."

He is not a conventional circus-type funnyman.

"I'm dressed as a boy, sort of like a kid in a prep school, with oversized shorts, a bow tie and a red baseball hat — an adult being a kid," said Gullinelo, a Bostonian who studied at Cambridge University and has been Eddy for about three years.

He is one of the few marrieds in the company; his wife is a backstage manager.

"It's easy to make people laugh," Gullinelo said, "because the numbers I do (inherited) have a pretty strong structure. But I do miss conventional acting. Cirque is very theatrical, but I yearn for the constructive conflict between characters in traditional shows. Here, we're dealing with very abstract material."

THE HEAD COACH

Michael Ocampo of Montreal, a 15-year veteran of Cirque shows ("Saltimbanco," "Alegria") supervises and teaches all acrobatics in "Saltimbanco" and monitors the show's crisp movements.

He's the head coach.

"I watch every show and have done the Chinese poles, Russian bar and bungee," he said. "I turned to coaching when I started to have back problems."

As a performer, he was part of the trampoline circus in "Alegria" for five years and did troupe sequences in "Saltimbanco" for another five. His specialties were gymnastics and power tumbling. He also was a troupe coach for "Quidam," another Cirque spectacle.

"The idea of our show is city life, so the costumes are brightly colored and the stage is brightly colored, too, both extensive and eclectic," said Ocampo. "We show evolution depicted in the costumes; lizards change color and evolve into other characters," all staged with precision and lit and performed with athleticism and mood-setting music.

Spandex thrives in the ranks. "You can't imagine the custom work involved. The show travels with 250 pairs of shoes, each custom-made for each artist, and even head pieces are custom made, after a performer's head cast is done. I'd say that with 50 artists, each one has at least one hat, many have two, and it's all got to fit properly."

Ocampo said the show moves like a small army. On the Mainland, the cast hops on buses if the next stop is five hours or less away; if it's longer, everyone takes a plane. Equipment, costumes and props are loaded up in vans.

Ocampo said his job is a passport to the world. "I've been around the world twice since I joined Cirque."

THE PROPS MASTER

Niki Kemeny has a monumental task: managing and inventorying all the props and equipment rigs in "Saltimbanco."

"It's as complicated as it seems," she said of keeping stock of props you might see in a conventional theater, like a desk lamp, a chair, a candelabra. Things have to be in a certain place at a precise moment.

The acrobatic elements are worse. "You're talking about the rigging, the special platforms needed for a juggler or the big swing for the Russian swing act," she said. "Got to have it all right."

Because the show generally moves often — sometimes every few days, often once a week — there's a lot of packing and unpacking to do.

"It's a lot more complicated than packing your suitcase," she said. "It's a maneuver. With the acrobatic equipment, you need extreme care and precision. You test; torques, tension. And my job is interdependent on the artists and their work. You have a finger in a lot of pies and your eyes on everything. I have a keen sense of what people need."

Kemeny worked in Toronto theater, often tending to props. "The move to Cirque was a natural extension," she said. "I was looking for a job in a bigger environment, with bigger challenges. So Cirque was a tangential move; it gave me an opportunity to also travel the world."

She's been with Cirque for 15 years and is immersed in the multicultural company.

"Many performers speak another language — their first language — and that's the difficult challenge," she said. "French. Hungarian. That's why I'm learning Spanish."

THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Artistic director Adam Miller is just beginning his Cirque career.

"I started with the show last July 8 in Winnipeg," he said. "I'm the newest of the new."

His task is to maintain the essence of the show, the esprit of the company.

"You can't make it your show," he said. "On the one hand, you maintain the integrity and quality of the production. But 'Saltimbanco' has a certain amount of leeway; in the Cirque manner, we're allowed to get that free-wheeling spirit and constantly keep the show alive and current. The style is there, but you can put your fingerprint on it, too."

A ballet dancer, teacher and director in Hartford, Conn., Miller was hired by Cirque to teach ballet.

With his dance background, however, he is mildly surprised that "Saltimbanco" has no dancers or a choreographer. "I guess it's more a matter of personality and experience shaped to their needs; they hope what I bring can be integrated with what I learn, motivating and shaping and keeping the energy up."

He admires the Cirque mantra. "The revival of the performance spirit is a part of the old (show biz) tradition," he said. "We integrate all the theatrical elements in Cirque, and people who normally don't go to a circus event will go to a Cirque du Soleil show. It's acrobatic, it's cohesive, it's alive."