In the show, 35 performers work under the direction of a ‘maestro.’ Credit: Photo via Cirque du Soleil

Tropicana Field is home to some pretty elite athletes this season (read: Major League Baseball leaders the Tampa Bay Rays), but it’ll be home to even more come next spring.

Today, Cirque du Soleil announced plans to bring a new show to St. Petersburg next year.

Tickets to see Cirque du Soleil “Bazzar” from Feb. 22-March 24 go on sale to the general public starting Thursday, June 15 and start at $24.

A Cirque representative told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the first show will be on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. The company will take Monday-Tuesday off, do one 7:30 p.m. show Wednesday-Friday, then two shows each on Saturday (3:30 p.m., 7 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m., 4:30 p.m.).
The shows are the fourth stop on the “Bazzar” national tour, and mark the production’s local debut (it world premiered in India in 2018 and toured the Middle East). A press release calls the presentation “a high-energy spectacle of intrepid acrobatics, dynamic stunts and exhilarating performances that pays homage to the entertainment company’s legacy.”

In the show, 35 performers—including musicians acrobats, plus gymnasts who practice the traditional Indian sport of Mallakhamb (aerial yoga, on a hanging wooden pole)—work under the direction of a “maestro” who directs the “high-energy excitement, collision of sounds and colors, and meeting place of diverse characters.”

“Bazzar” arrives five years after a Cirque acrobat fell 20 feet during a Tampa performance of “Volta.” The aerialist, Yann Arnaud, later died from his injuries.