“Celebrate” starts, appropriately, with a confetti cannon, this 30th anniversary spectacular of the one-ring wonder known as the Big Apple Circus.
The Huesca Brothers tumble their way through a rapid-fire act that involves one brother flipping the other over and over using just his feet. It’s a routine that will make back-pain sufferers wince but they make it look as easy as a walk the park.
The inimitable Barry Lubin is in fine form as Grandma the clown, deconstructing what the audience has just seen in his own particular way.
Fellow clowns Fumagalli and Daris are classic tumblers who blend comedy with their act, eliciting titters from the 3-year-olds in the front row – and their parents.
Two acts take children’s toys to a whole other level.
Yelena Larkina gives hula-hoop lovers something to shoot for – and then some – in a stylized routine titled “Wedding Rings.”
“Jump for Joy” has the Kovgar Troupe doing double-Dutch times three, with six jump ropes going at once.
Irina Markova’s dog act (every circus needs a bit with a dog) generates laughter of all sorts: giggles, guffaws and belly laughs. It nearly brought the house down when the tiniest dog walked a cat on a leash around the ring.
Everyone gets in on the act – even musical director Rob Slowik, whose trumpet playing is raised to new heights here.
There’s a juggler, too: Kris Kremo, who juggles balls, boxes and bowler hats.
Yasmine Smart parades a half-dozen horses around the tiny ring. They throw sawdust as they gently circle the ring and pause to give the wide-eyed 3-year-olds in the front row a very close look at a real pony.
Next is a classic golden-statues act – Virgile Peyramaure, Andrey Mantchev and Sarah Schwarz in “Gala Opening” – in which three gold-painted performers do a slow-motion balancing act on a lighted platform. It is precise, controlled, efficient and beautiful.
The seriousness of that act is quickly dissipated as the follically challenged Fumagalli returns with Daris Huesca for some spit-take silliness that had one woman pulling out her umbrella.
Cong Tian swings, walks, relaxes and even rides a unicycle in his slack-wire act. (A slack wire is loose, as opposed to a tightrope.)
Then the Kovgars return with a high-flying teeter-board act that sends a few daredevil aerialists skyward in an awe-inspiring display of teamwork and timing.
The show is heavy on clowns and feats of physical stamina but it never loses the personal connection with the audience.
If you’ve never been to the Big Apple Circus – where no seat is farther than 50 feet from the ring – “Celebrate” is a great introduction.
If you have been, “Celebrate” is another fresh installment of the most intimate of circuses.
There was an oft-quoted saying in the ‘60s: “Don’t trust anyone over 30.”
You can trust this 30-year-old.
“BIG APPLE CIRCUS: CELEBRATE”
Where: Palisades Center’s auxiliary parking lot, Exit 12 off the New York State Thruway, West Nyack.
When: Today through July 2.
Tickets: $15 to $39 for all Saturday and Sunday performances (12:30 and 4:30 p.m.); $15 to $33 for weekday evenings (7 p.m.); and $15 to $26 for weekday matinees (12:30 p.m.).
Call: 212-307-4100.
Tickets on the Web: www.ticketmaster.com
In person: The Circus Box Office, at the big top, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
Circus Web site: www.bigapplecircus.org.

Photo by Bertrand Guay/Big Apple Circus: Company members Andrey Mantchev (top), Virgile Peyramaure and Sarah Schwarz perform an electrifying “Golden Statues” act in “Celebrate!” the all-new 30th Anniversary show of the Big Apple Circus.