3/27: Cleveland Pops Orchestra

While competitive gymnasts focus on technical brilliance, gymnasts who end up in the circus create routines that make you “ooh” and “aah.” Elena Tsarkova is part of the latter group. The Russian gymnast flows from pose to pose, balancing her hands on two stools, contorting her body and making it ripple in sensual time with the music. She’s one of three acts performing with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra tonight in an encore performance of Cirque de la Symphonie. The show also includes Tsarkova’s husband, Vladimir Tsarkov, a juggler who plays a character based on Pablo Picasso’s harlequin paintings, and balancing-strongmen duo Jarek and Darek, who sport loincloths and gold body paint as they run through a set of improbable poses. The circus joins the Pops at 8 p.m. at Severance Hall (11001 Euclid Ave., 216.231.1111). Tickets: $19-$72. — Michael Gill