DELIROUSLY DIFFERENT `DELIRIUM' ROCKS CIRQUE DU SOLEIL'S WORLD.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Writer

The word ``circus'' conjures up images of kids, balloons, elephants and clowns.

But Canada's Cirque du Soleil has never been a conventional circus, and it still isn't.

While ``Delirium,'' the company's first touring show designed for arenas, is no ``Zumanity'' (Cirque's Las Vegas-based R-rated show), it is a frenzy of musicians, singers, dancers and urban tribal beats against a backdrop of dizzying visuals.

It's a spectacle that may either overwhelm or delight younger patrons, creators say.

``I think for children under 8, it may be difficult, sometimes even scary,'' says Victor Pilon, ``Delirium's'' co-creator, director, multimedia and set designer.

But he also notes that during rehearsals, company members' kids as young as 6 seemed to take it in stride.

``It depends on the child. Teenagers I think really go for it. But for young, young children, I think it would be too much.''

< The seven-performance L.A. run of ``Delirium,'' beginning Friday night at Staples, spans both this coming weekend and Sept. 27-29, with a pair of quick-hit stops in Fresno and San Jose in between.

Gone is the signature blue-and-yellow grand chapiteau (``big top'' to us Yanks). As for clowns -- send 'em away.

``We take risks with every new creation,'' says Carmen Ruest, the show's director of creation. ``Trying to re-create the same sort of intimacy we have under the big top into a huge arena was something we had to study closely.''

Previous Cirque creations have run the gamut between touring shows and the permanent Las Vegas installations (``O,'' ``KA''). ``Delirium,'' using 45 performers and billed as a ``live music concert,'' is a new beast entirely.

The layout includes a 130-foot-long, 20-foot-wide bisected stage, 540 square feet of floor-to-ceiling projection space (the equivalent of nearly four IMAX screens), 18 projectors -- one of which is operated from a hot-air balloon -- and a 15-foot planet drum. The setup was so massive, the company had to rehearse ``Delirium'' in vacant automotive warehouses and airplane hangars.

``Scenery-wise, we're being sort of audacious,'' says Pilon. ``The split space with those two runways crossing the space like a street refers to the beginnings of Cirque, which started on the streets of Quebec. At the same time, you have the question, `How do you touch and provoke people and have some emotion in such a huge space?'''

For all its visuals, the inspiration for ``Delirium'' is music and -- more specifically -- the Cirque du Soleil music catalog, spanning 16 previous shows. Music director Francis Collard has rearranged and incorporated more than 20 songs from the troupe's 500-song catalog into ``Delirium.''

The house band is the Brazilian group Gaia. Singers and musicians are equally globe-spanning, including Jacynthe (a Canadian singer), Dessy Di Lauro (a Brazilian Italo- Cuban chanteuse) and the Senegalese Diouf brothers. Tribal beats and the rave scene are inspiration for Collard's remixings. ``Delirium'' also has an opening act: a five-song set by the Montreal-based singer Nitza.

Lyrics -- in English, Portuguese and Spanish and the African dialect Wolof -- have been added to instrumental numbers. ``This show is about putting the musicians center stage,'' Ruest says.

No longer unseen, the musicians will share the stage with ``Delirium's'' contortionists and acrobats. Think of it as a major rock show where the headliner isn't famous.

``Usually the people who tour in arenas are pop stars like Madonna or U2,'' Pilon says. ``In Cirque du Soleil, there are no stars as such. It was interesting to see how we could invent a space to do something different, something no one has ever done before.

``When (Cirque CEO) Guy Laliberte, who always dreamed of doing shows in arenas, asked Michel Lemieux and myself to do this, he said, `You have an arena. Go wild, guys,' '' he added.

Lemieux and Pilon are both accustomed to working large scale. The two multidisciplinary artists, who formed the performing-arts company 4D art in 1990, have collaborated on Cirque anniversary shows and milestone events for the Montreal International Jazz Festival for audiences numbering in the 200,000s.

The arena show they created would have to be grand, but manageable, according to Pilon.

``Very surprisingly, the way our setup is done, you don't necessarily feel like you're in such a big space,'' Pilon says. ``When we finally got into an arena, it suddenly became very accessible, in some ways very intimate. And by splitting the stage in half, you have many more good seats than at a traditional rock show.''

The company, whose most recent Vegas show, ``Love,'' is set to the music of the Beatles, is developing a show to the tunes of Elvis Presley. Music-dominated shows -- even with sounds from artists not commissioned by Cirque -- might well become as much a signature as dazzling visuals and acrobatics.

Or maybe not.

``Creators and directors arrive at Cirque with a white page in front of them,'' Ruest says. ``Guy Laliberte tells them, `Go present whatever you have in your mind. Let your creative spirit go.' The rest of the concept and production team, we really try to support their vision.''

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

DELIRIUM

Where: Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Sept. 27-29.

Tickets: $69.50 to $125. [phone] or visit www.ticketmaster.com or www.cirquedusoleil.com

CAPTION(S):

7 photo

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) FULL CIRQUE

(2 -- 5 -- color) While Cirque du Soleil's trademark acrobatics are an integral part of ``Delirium,'' the troupe's stadium-sized effort puts the musicians at center stage and presents itself as a rock 'n' roll show -- albeit one without a marquee star.

(6 -- color) There's no big top, per se, in ``Delirium,'' but flowing fabric -- and leaping bodies -- are in abundance.

(7 -- color) There's plenty of singing in ``Delirium,'' some of it while the vocalist is in midair.