Canberra is the first stop on the circus troupe's last leg of its almost 20-year-old show, Quidam, a flurry of colour, sparkle and breath-taking acrobatics set to live singing and music.

Quidam is the tale of a young girl who slips into an imaginary world where she meets a host of curious characters who encourage her to finally free her soul from a meaningless, modern society.

Spokeswoman Jessica Leboeuf said 46 performers from 20 countries would bring the show to life at Canberra's AIS Arena next month.

But Canberrans should not fear a tired format after a decade on the road around the globe.

"The one thing that they all have in common is by the time you join Cirque du Soleil you're the best at what you do," she said.

"It's also part of their role in the artistic team to keep the show fresh ... respecting the artistic integrity of the show, but leaving just a little open door for the artists within their performance so they can grow and really own their characters on stage."

One of these characters belongs to Kata Banhegyi who performs a solo skipping routine.

The Hungarian performer has learnt the ropes for more than two decades, first skipping as a six-year-old girl, and has toured with Quidam for a decade.

There's more to taking part in Quidam than meets the eye, she said, including applying your own make-up.

"When I joined the show, the first year or two it took me two hours to get ready. Now it's only 20 minutes," she said.

"On a daily basis I do a two-hour training session ... it's always important to work on new tricks all the time.

"You have to be doing some character work as well during the performance so, you end up learning more and more stuff during the years."

American acrobat Mei Bouchard, who joined Cirque du Soleil when she was 18, was lucky enough to pinch a few tricks from Banhegyi for a group number.

"I join Kata in a little bit of skipping – it's a big group number. She's been nice enough to show me some tricks," she said.

"The character I play ... is based on a fairy tale and it's about a girl looking for love. It's also called the donkey or the rabbit character."

But Bouchard, who has performed in Quidam for four years, is in her element high above the ground, performing acrobatics on a vertical rope.

"I'm part of a team of seven and we have five ropes on the stage," she said.

"My background is in dance, then I did circus as a hobby, then I decided I liked circus more than dancing."

Do the pair ever still feel nervous?

Banhegyi said the nerves subsided over time.

"It gets easier [but] you always have a little adrenaline level increase before the show," she said.

"Whenever we have friends or family, quite often you get more nervous with the performance, but it's much better than when you started."

Cirque du Soleil's Quidam is on December 10-20 at the AIS Arena. Tickets are on sale. Visit cirquedusoleil.com/quidam