Nouveau cirque wunderkind James Thiérrée makes his highly anticipated return to BAM with the soulful Au Revoir Parapluie. Marvelous physical theatrics--acrobatics, dance, mime, music--abound.

The show begins with a fantastic creature, covered in gold glitter and crooning in an unidentifiable tongue. Realizing that it can't escape its golden shroud, its face crumples in anguish. The curtain opens to reveal ominously swirling ropes on which climb changelings -- careening, flying, and dancing in pitched battle with rocking chairs and great swaths of black cloth.

With Au Revoir Parapluie (which translates as "Farewell Umbrella") Thiérrée and his astonishing company achieve a most delicate balance of pathos and delight.