Body language with Cirque du Soleil

It’s not quite the mix of languages that you hear at the United Nations, but it’s close. The tumblers, high-wire bike-riders and contortionists in "Kooza" — the Cirque du Soleil show that opens Friday on the St. Paul riverfront — come from 16 countries. The backstage crew members hail from 22, all of which makes for interesting communication challenges onstage and off in a show with death-defying high-wire and trapeze acts. "Sometimes, during the creation process, you can have [an artist] who’s saying something and five translators working at the same time," said Luc Tremblay, who has served as a coach and Cirque artistic director for the past decade. "It can be…

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