LAS VEGAS--When Canada's Cirque du Soleil first came to the United States in 1984, they brought with them a new definition of "circus." There were no lions, tigers, bears--or even horses, for that matter. But there was a total integration of basic circus arts--tumbling, clowning, trapeze and strength acts--performed with a creativity and emotionality never seen before. It was a complete theatrical experience combining evocative live rock music, spectacular costumes and a gorgeous athleticism.

Cirque came to Vegas when Steve Wynn built a massive theater at his Treasure Island resort on the strip, with a show called "Mystère." For his new Bellagio Hotel and Resort, Wynn built an 1,800-seat theater for Cirque's first aquatic production, "O," which will be playing to full houses just like sister show "Mystère" and the Siegfried and Roy magic extravaganza at the Mirage.

Far and away, "O" is the most spectacular and emotionally thrilling of the lot. It's a dynamic and well-integrated piece, with visuals, technology and that beautiful athleticism from a cast of swimmers/divers/actors/tumblers -- who are often one and the same performer. The casting call for "O" must have been a trip in itself.

Visually, "O" is like a tour of Dante's Inferno, had it been designed and cast by Frederico Fellini. Acrobats mysteriously rise out of the water on the shoulders of their catchers. Mongolian contortionists leave their isolated performance islands on the head of a gigantic crocodile. A sad-sack clown in Emmett Kelly tatters continues to read his newspaper as first his feet catch on fire, then his paper, then his chair, and then his battered old derby. A ghostly galleon flies from the ceiling with a crew of trapeze artists who dismount by diving into the water below.

From the moment the curtain rises (actually, the red parachute-cloth curtain flies away from the center like streamers shot out of a cannon) to the second it "falls" (when the red cloth returns as the envelope of a hot air balloon), the performances are riveting, sensual, androgynous, fantastical and awe-inspiring in their strength and economy of movement. Synchronized swimmers in skin-tight body suits present the first inkling of menace when their eyes surface, obscured by black goggles.

Championship divers propel themselves from miniscule platforms high in the rigging, landing in a narrow, pie-shaped spit of water. They are daredevils equal to the famous Acapulco cliff divers, whose margin for error disappears with the tide. Eleven other divers are sling-shot from swinging pendulum platforms. Eschewing traditional trampoline moves, these divers shoot into space like boomerangs and hang in the air before dropping like stones into the water below. The look of ecstasy on some of their faces shows the pleasure of loosing earthly bonds and, for a moment, becoming totally free.

The Bellagio Theater is a steeply raked amphitheater in which everything points toward the stage, which is a miracle of hydraulics of all kinds (the set alternately becomes a synchronized swimming and high-diving pool or solid land). The distance from the top of the "fly-space" above the stage, which accommodates the state-of-the-art circus equipment, to the bottom of the 25-foot-deep, 1.5 million-gallon pool is 145 feet, the equivalent of a nine-story building.

I only mention such technical wizardry as a measure of the brilliance of the Cirque du Soleil creative staff, who have utilized every drop of water, every inch of stage and every space between, filling them with fantastical characters who swim, dive, fly and act.

Not surprisingly, "O" contains a number of references to other Cirque productions which are presented with new variations. Dominque Lemieux's costumes are reminiscent of "Alegria" and "Saltimbanco"--with universal use of colorful body suits and some rags and tatters (particularly on the pirates who fly on and off the ghostly aerial galleon). The clowns--a Russian married couple, Dimitrio Bogatirev and Iryna Ivanytska--tell the ongoing story of two sad, frayed souls trapped on an ice floe (one affecting vignette finds them roasting a snowman over a campfire). The Mongolian contortionists have been seen in other productions, but as they perform, synchronized swimmers drape themselves around the pool like human friezes.

The cast is huge, numbering 74. They perform in, on and above the water with the benefit of state-of-the-art technology and the fertile imagination of set designed Michel Crete. It's a wonder what an open check book and unlimited imagination can produce. (Tickets run $90 to $100.)

With the Bellagio, Steve Wynn has set a new standard in luxury and leisure. Just about everything is larger-than-life and over-the-top, from the lobby's floral canopy by glass artist Dale Chihuly to the five pools set among rose gardens. So why shouldn't Wynn's headliners also set a new standard? "O" certainly does.

From the San Francisco Examiner, Wednesday, October 21, 1998, page B-1 by Cynthia Robins, "Cyn City"