If you are interested in brand-name entertainment in this part of southern France you pretty much have to go to Montpellier, the region’s big-ish (270,000 people) city.

For example, want to see a touring group from the Cirque du Soleil acrobatics/circus company?

Montpellier is for you. One Cirque group played the city this weekend, bringing an organization best known for its madly popular Las Vegas shows into the Languedoc-Roussillon area.

And at least one of us was quite eager to take advantage of the opportunity.

The Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil is a very successful organization that puts on what some call a “modern” circus. Lots of acrobatics, live music, singers, clown-like characters — but no animal acts.

For people fond of seeing people strike outlandish poses, the Cirque is for you. If you want to see a dozen young men launch themselves 20 or 30 feet into the air from moving, trapeze-like platforms, or a young woman do a one-hand stand on a platform hardly bigger than her palm … this is what you want.

This show was put on by the Cirque’s Varekai tour group, which is playing throughout Europe this year — as opposed to no fewer than eight Cirque units (from what appears to be a total of 23, worldwide) which are based in Las Vegas year-round.

It looked much like the other shows, from what I can tell, and was very loosely based on the mythological character of Icarus — the man who flew too close to the sun … and fell to the stage at the Park&Suites Arena on the grounds of Montpellier’s Parc des Expositions. (He was not hurt! Ta-da!)

The Cirque has become a dependable purveyor of a deeply nuanced but accessible form of all-ages big-top/arena entertainment. The tumbling, the flying, the colorful outfits (apparently inspired by the Munchkins), the singing, the slap-sticky comedy stylings.

An interesting part of the Varekai show is a segment devoted to a Turkish-German dancer who has limited control of his legs because of a childhood case of polio.

The audience can see that he goes center stage with crutches, but as things progress he seems so nimble and lithe that watchers find themselves tested when it comes to figuring out if the slightly built man actually needs those crutches — or whether they are interesting props. (It is the former.)

Including a 15-minute intermission, the show lasted two hours. Tickets seemed to range from about $50 to $100. More than a few kids were in the house, but the audience of perhaps 5,000 skewed heavily towards adults.

The Cirque du Soleil is not for everyone; if you do not have a deep appreciation for tumbling and bizarre costumes, it can reach a sameness within the first 30 minutes.

Most people seem to find it fascinating, and the Cirque has the numbers to prove it — it employs more than 4,000 people, has been seen by 90 million people and generates more than $810 million in annual revenue.

Thank goodness for Montpellier, only 45 minutes away.

We figure to return there fairly soon for events such as symphonies, operas and Ligue 1 soccer.