Cirque du Soleil returning to Redmond next year

Keeping to its plan of visiting the Seattle area about once every two years with a different attraction, the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil will bring its circus spectacle "Corteo" to Redmond's Marymoor Park next year for a run that begins on April 24, 2008, and will last four weeks or more.

Before coming here, "Corteo" will have a Portland engagement, and after the Redmond run the show will travel to Vancouver, B.C.

The title "Corteo" is Italian for "cortege" (typically meaning a train of attendants, or a funeral procession). Cirque du Soleil describes the show, which premiered in Montreal in 2005, as " a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. [It] brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth."

Marymoor, a King County municipal park, earned a handsome profit of $450,000 for hosting the 2006 run of Cirque du Soleil's show "Varekai." Since 2000, Cirque du Soleil has brought four other popular shows to sites in Renton.

Tickets are not yet on sale for the Marymoor's "Corteo" dates. To receive updates on ticket prices, purchase details and other matters, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com online.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com