Circus, Parisian-style, at Cornerstone in Sonoma

From the moment circus maestro Michel Michelis greets those coming into his tent, something magical begins happening at Cirque de Bohème, now in its fourth season.

Those who attend this intimate show, which just opened and runs through Dec. 18 at Cornerstone in Sonoma, are transported to another time.

Perhaps that is the Paris of the 1920s, where this nouveau cirque began, or maybe it’s an imaginary place where clocks halt their ceaseless march.

After a recorded message requesting audience members to turn off their cellphones, the poetic narration informs everyone that “time doesn’t exist; time doesn’t count.”

The show, in essence, is a departure from time, a brief journey away from the 21st-century intrusions of incessant texts and emails, beeps and buzzes.

As the little Cirque de Bohème unfolds - the tent seats 150 people - it quickly becomes clear this is a far cry from Ringling Brothers. There are no nightmare-inducing clowns, no magic tricks, and no animals except for an imaginary elephant.

Bohème is up-close and personal, a story-driven show featuring Gypsies (as they call themselves) in tattered clothes trying to take the audience “Somewhere” (the title of this year’s show).

Performers don’t hide behind face paint. They expressively share their humanity with the audience.

Among the highlights are unicyclist Colin Creveling juggling and jumping rope while riding his single-wheeled bike and aerialist Cola Claret, whose gymnastic performance in front of an animated background of changing scenery takes the audience from the heavens to the deep blue sea.

Other acts range from a treacherous perch atop four balanced chairs to a stable boy’s unfortunate encounter with an elephant that is represented only by an occasional trumpeting sound.

Then there are the bits that triggered peals of laughter among the kids in the house, such as the sudden reveal of frilly underwear.

Cirque de Bohème has found its niche in Sonoma by harking back to a time when circuses were more accessible and audience members felt that they were part of the show.

One of the most memorable skits involved three lucky (or perhaps unlucky) audience members called to the stage for a directed mime session.

When the show concluded, Michelis and the performers ushered audience members through the exit door, a sort of decompression to escort them back to the time-bound world.

Interviewed after the second of the two opening day shows, Cirque de Bohème creator Michelis said that he intentionally keeps his circus small.

“I think the difference between a larger circus and us is you are sitting so close to them (the performers) that you can see what they do and really appreciate it,” he said. “You are very, very close to us, and this is the thing I want to keep.”

Music is a big part of the show, as is the poetic narration read by Michelis’ daughter, Luna Michelis. Cirque de Bohème is deeply encouraging with lines such as “Have faith in yourself; you’ll get your chance,” repeated for emphasis.

Michel Michelis doesn’t perform in the show until the end, when he plays John Lennon’s “Imagine” on an antique barrel organ and the audience, without prompting, sings along.

“I hope to convince people they can dream,” Michelis said. “And that when you get in trouble, there’s always somewhere you can go to restart, so don’t be shy.”

The show works for both kids and adults; there’s some goofiness for children and acts to wow them – for adults, Cirque de Bohème evokes the enchanting moments of bygone days.

“This is super important,” Michelis said in his heavy French accent. “This is what we try to do, bring some nostalgia to people that they cannot have with a big circus, something that will cover all the sentiments.”

Cirque de Bohème, he said, was founded in Paris in the 1920s by his grandfather.

“It was a cabaret with the circus artists, music, and storytelling, always,” he said. “This kind of circus has disappeared so we try to go back to this tradition.”

In the 1920s and ’30s, Parisians craved levity and community, and they found it at small circuses like Bohème.

“After the first World War, people needed entertaining because they had just passed five years in hell,” Michelis said. “People needed something fun or different or poetic to forget the trench.”

Today, many people seek to escape the 21st-century demands of technology and its devices, which were supposed to give us more free time, but ended up consuming it.

Thankfully, there’s a place called “Somewhere,” a shared fantasy where imagination can carry away anyone who is willing.

“This tent is a magical room because in one month it disappears, and you have no idea where it’s gone,” Michelis said. “Then next year it comes back mysteriously, because we are Bohemian.”

Though Cirque de Bohème doesn’t appear to include any tricks, perhaps there is one.

“When we say we stop the time, normally people don’t believe us,” Michelis said. “But after a couple of seconds you believe us. This is our magical trick.”

Michael Shapiro is the author of “A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration.” Contact: www.michaelshapiro.net.