There were moments in this contemporary circus show when the audience seemed to be holding its breath.

Then there were gasps and whoops of amazement as the performers pulled off feats of physical contortion and acrobatics that defied belief.

The seven members of Circa, based in Brisbane, Australia, were relentless in their leaps, twists and catches, many of which just shouldn’t be possible in my book.

Mixing mime, acrobatics and dance, this was the perfect opener for guest director Ali Smith’s vision of a festival that dissolves borders between art forms.

It brilliantly captured the idea of how people, interacting, can weigh each other down – you try doing a Rubik’s Cube with a full-grown man balanced on your shoulders – but also how people depend on one another – what greater display of trust than being caught flying through the air in mid-tumble?

If these ideas shone through clearly, there were also moments that were a bit baffling – mostly those involving over-sized rabbit costumes.

If the themes were often quite adult, the youngsters in the audience seemed to be wowed by the spectacle.

One met a moment of extreme limb rearrangement with the words: “Does she like it?” Not sure, dear, but we certainly did.

FOUR STARS