James Tanabe, a globe-trotting acrobat and show producer who grew up in Rochester, returns to Minnesota this week for the Cirque du Soleil production of "Kooza" in St. Paul. He's the assistant artistic director for the show, to be held July 3 to Aug. 2 in a giant tent pitched in St. Paul's Lowertown.

Tanabe, 31, is part of the direction team, responsible for everything happening onstage. And that's a constantly moving assignment, with 53 artists from 14 countries running, jumping and flying throughout the performance.

As the show was packing up after a run in New York City, Tanabe said he's excited about getting back to Minnesota. After some between-shows hiking in Yellowstone National Park, he planned to visit his mother in Kasson before coming to St. Paul for the set up of the show.

He grew up in both Rochester and Japan; his dad worked for IBM and was transferred back and forth. As a youngster in Rochester, he was part of the Masque Youth Theater, and plans to see one of that group’s last shows there this weekend. It is closing after 22 years, after the June 30 show.

Tanabe is a graduate of MIT, where he studied space science and physics. The spell of the theater returned, though, as he learned dance and acrobatics in the MIT gym. And after graduating from the National Circus School of Canada, he's worked as a performer, playwright and founding director of New Circus Asia, which produced circus shows throughout Asia.

His performing specialty is acrobatics on the ground, handstands and acting movement, but he works only backstage with the creative team for "Kooza."

"I'd been finding people for [the Cirque] shows in Asia for some time, but we had to find the right time and project for me to get involved with them. It happened and I started this year," he said.

Tanabe said he used to visit the Twin Cities regularly as a kid, going to the Science Museum and concerts and visiting an aunt and uncle. He knows things have changed. "There's the new Guthrie, the Science Museum is new since I was a kid and I had friends at Jeune Leune, which has closed," he said.

He hopes to hit some of the cultural and artistic hot spots in town, although he'll be very busy with the show.

" 'Kooza' is wildly different from other Cirque shows," he said. "It's returning to its roots; everything is bigger, more exciting. We've got artists from families who've been training for four generations, so this is authentic. They're not pretending to be circus artists; they're the real thing."

The show is edgier -- "more in your face" -- than other Cirque shows, but still family friendly, he said.

He plans to show some of the folks from the Masque Theater around the big top in St. Paul. "I want to show them what the world of circus is like, that it's one more option in the theater universe and that it's one of the million reasons to keep your options open when you're looking at a career," he said.

The "Kooza" tent will be erected Friday in the Broadway/Kellogg parking lot on the eastern edge of downtown St. Paul. Go online for more about the show and ticket information.