World-renowned circus company Cirque du Soleil will bring one of its longest-running and most beloved touring shows to Auckland’s Spark Arena this October.

Corteo, which premiered in Montreal under a Big Top tent in April 2005, has wowed more than 12 million spectators in 30 countries with a mix of comedy, performance art, music, illusions and acrobatics.

Artistic director and long-time circus performer Olaf Triebel says many of these performers have backgrounds in tumbling or gymnastics or trampolining - and the training's fairly straightforward.

"Their body is already completely trained, so then what they have to focus on is more the artistic side of it - to learn how to move or to dance or to become an artist on stage."

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