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After a two-year absence, Cirque du Soleil has tumbled, somersaulted and clowned its way back into the region, but this year it moves its show to Prince George's County.

The performance company celebrated for its complicated acrobatics and theatrical clowning is performing one of its newest pieces, Kooza, at the county's $4 billion development, the National Harbor in Oxon Hill.

Kooza, one of the company's only shows written and directed by an American, deviates from Cirque du Soleil's usual attention to collective elegance among performers.

Instead, it mixes jaw-dropping acrobatics and the art of clowning, contrasting the human strength of the show's highly talented individual acrobats with the slapstick humor of the show's clowns.

"It's very raw in terms of what people will see," Cirque du Soleil communications director Pascale Ouimet said. "It's very focused on what the artist can do and his ability."

Ouimet said the show's director, David Shiner, who began with the company in 1990 when he played a clown in the performance Nouvelle Expérience, crafted the show to "stun" the audience with physical feats and slapstick humor, rather than comfort the audience with the subdued but powerful elegance present in the company's more classic performances.

"Solitude, sadness and loneliness are a part of life," Shiner said in a news release previewing the show. "I want to take the audience to the realm of their own self, their own laughter, their own tears and their own loneliness."

Two years ago, Cirque du Soleil performed one of its most classic and popular performances, Corteo, in Washington, D.C. The show, which garnered high sales, left D.C. audiences expecting similar performances from the Canadian theatrical company.

But despite mixing things up, Ouimet and Aba Bonney Kwawu, owner of The Aba Agency, the public relations firm that handles Cirque du Soleil's D.C. shows, say there is enough of the bare-bones, classic acrobatics that the company is renowned for to satisfy spectators' expectations.

The show, which began last week, is scheduled to run through Dec. 14, 12 days longer than it initially intended because of record high ticket sales.

Kooza will be performed under Cirque du Soleil's familiar yellow and blue Grand Chapiteau, better known as the big top, which seats more than 2,500 people and is the company's largest touring spectator area.

Standing 66 feet high and 167 feet in diameter, the big top was transported to D.C. in a caravan of 50 tractor trailers and was assembled by more than 80 workers over a seven-day period.

And Cirque du Soleil hand-picked the National Harbor for its return.

After searching for a District area venue for nearly a year, the company decided that the newly built hub has the buzz and facilities that will help ticket sales soar.

"It's an new exciting location with lots of activities, from the restaurants to the hotels," said Aba, adding that the venue has been very "accommodating" during the company's construction process, which includes setting up an extensive water and electricity system and paving the area underneath the big-top.

After investing a lot of money into the renovations, Cirque du Soleil projects its outlay to be worthwhile.

"We're selling very good and we're happy to be part of this thing that they're trying to incorporate here," said Ouimet, adding that the company is happy that it has developed roots "in a place that we'll know we'll be able to come in a year after that."

IF YOU GO

Cirque du Soleil's Kooza

-When: 8 p.m., Tuesday through Saturdays; 4 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 14

-Where: National Harbor in Oxon Hill

-Tickets: $55 to $215

-Box office: www.cirquedusoleil.com