Fringe Circus: Wunderkammer / Tangram / Bianco

Tangram, Pleasance Dome

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Bianco, NoFitState Big Top

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If there is a company that persuades you circus is an art form, then the Circa troupe from Oz is it - making trapeze work, acrobatics, hoops and the Chinese Pole into thrilling little essays on the wonders of the human body and the potential of the human spirit.

Wunderkammer is the aptly-named showcase for three women and four men who all have well-honed specialities but who knit together seamlessly as a gravity-defying ensemble.

Mutual trust is allied to focus and timing in sessions of throw and catch - a performer the hurtling in-flight go-between - and human towers seem as much about co-operation as they are about strength and balance.

Because Circa has no truck with the machinery of uber-thematic set designs, the emphasis throughout is on the performers as flesh and blood people. Sometimes it is humorous, and sexy with it. The frisky little costumes that pop on, and pop off - most unexpectedly as part of a languorous routine on trapeze - play about with the tease of burlesque.

But perhaps what shocks most is the beauty and emotional impact of some sections. The girl, orbiting shimmering silver hoops round her body is just magical, but the two men interacting on the Chinese Pole, their athletic bouts of camraderie and rivalry, brinkmanship and bravado set to Arvo Part's Fratres, don't just take your breath away, they make sudden tears catch at the back of your throat.

Odd couples do tend to pop up all over the Fringe but on paper, at least, classical ballerina Cristiana Casadio and juggler Stefan Sing - the duo who combine in Tangram - seem incompatability incarnate.

And indeed, it is the unlikely prospect of a relationship that lends a personal (and real life) strand to an hour of unspoken attractions and tensions, expressed through her dance, his dexterity and the mapping out of territory by the white balls they both subsequently juggle.

What sustains this vulnerable storyline, keeping us hooked in, is the astutely-paced drip-feed of their expertise: individually her technique on and off pointe is stunning, while his ball control is mesmerising but when they amalgamate in a happy ending, this show becomes not just different but special.

With their own Big Top anchored in Fountainbridge, NoFitState can invite us to promenade among - but mostly underneath - the spectacular flights of fancy (and aerial work) in Bianco.

There is a connecting narrative that is not always easy to hear, but the specially-written live music sets both mood and pace as the scaffolding towers act like a giant Meccano set - be ready to shift yourself, as well - and this versatile, visually adventurous company go on a journey that celebrates individuality.

That said, some of the most stonkingly impressive moments are when not one or two performers take to the ropes, but five. Juggling, trampolining, Cyr Wheel, acrobatics - Bianco dresses them all up with wit and imagination, and never more so than in the final hauntingly beautiful trapeze solo, where a woman flies high in a whirling snowstorm of tiny white flakes.

All shows run until August 26