Messing with Swan Lake is a risky business. You wouldn’t want to do that unless you were a bit of a genius. It so happens Yaron Lifschitz, artistic director of Brisbane’s own contemporary circus company Circa, is.

Lifschitz has a knack for making thoughtful and artistic shows that are never pretentious and always entertaining. Circa is one of Australia’s most international companies and they tour the world. Sometimes folks overseas see more of them than we do which is why you should rush to QPAC to see what may be their best show yet. It’s a fleeting season and a world premiere.

Now first of all, I love a show that has a dad joke as its title. Duck Pond, as in NOT Swan Lake, get it? What a hoot.

Duck Pond is funny but somehow also manages to be moving and a tribute to the world’s most famous ballet. There are flashes of the exquisite music of Tchaikovsky threading through the incredible soundscape created by composer and a sound designer Jethro Woodward. The music is at times quasi-classical and contains elements of jazz and progressive rock among other influences.

This one is more theatrical than many Circa shows and the costumes by Libby McDonnell are classy and fabulous.

It is almost a contemporary dance piece at times and the Circa acrobats seamlessly move between dance and awe-inspiring circus feats from the incredible Circa acrobats who seem to be having a lot of fun in this show. Plenty of wow moments and lots of laughs with some old school clowning in that great European tradition. I don’t want to give too much away but just wait until you see the whole cast turn out as ducks.

Yaron Lifschitz doesn’t like to over explain what he does say that he wanted “to make something beautiful, funny, sophisticated and accessible; a kind of mythical unicorn that reaches across ages and artistic preferences”.

“I chose Swan Lake as the basis because it has everything – good and evil, black and white, and of course a lot of tutus. I reinterpreted the story to take place in the magical world of a film set and here among the glamour and romance we created Duck Pond, a fantastical circus mash-up bringing together the worlds of ballet, circus, film and theatre for an acrobatic spectacular.

“The show differs from other Circa productions in that we’ve specifically generated it to resonate across all ages.”

And that’s one of the beauties of this show. For the discerning viewer it has intellectual depth while for younger viewers it may just be a lot of fun. Blending the story of Swan Lake with The Ugly Duckling Lifschitz has created a timeless and heartwarming show that is, in his own words “neither quite ballet nor circus”.

There is the seductive burlesque Black Swan, the Duck Army with its flippers and acrobatic feats that take your breath way. It is 70 minutes of intense entertainment.

How Yaron Lifschitz comes up with this stuff time after time I do not know.

If you have never seen Circa this is the show to get you started. It shows why they are so successful here and internationally. If only we saw more of them. The good news is that they are creating another new show called Eternity for this year’s Brisbane Festival.

DUCK POND has only a few shows left, finishing Saturday night in the Playhouse at QPAC.