La Veritá is a stunning tribute to the artist Salvador Dalí

The acrobatic production La Verita journeys into the strange mind of Salvador Dali. We reveal our five things we love about the show.

La Verita. Ravindranath K / The National

With acrobatic performers and ­bizarre imagery, the stage show La Veritá is an intriguing journey into the mind of the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, based around a recently rediscovered backdrop he painted for the ballet Mad Tristan in New York in 1944. We found five things in particular to love about it.

1 Artistry meets athleticism. Contortionists, acrobats, aerial performers, musicians, dancers and a 60-year-old scrim combine in a creative celebration of the eccentric mind of Salvador Dalí. How better to represent the spirit of the surrealism master than mid-air flips, back bends and a pianist wearing a rhino head? As much as La Veritá is a tribute to art, it is a demonstration of pushing the limits of physical possibilities.

2 Multilingualism. The show is narrated in English but the fun, easy banter among the presenters is peppered with French, Spanish, Italian and possibly some clever gibberish. It's fun to hear recognisable phrases and realise that is probably what backstage at Mad Tristan sounded like in 1944. Art itself is universal and the decision to use multiple languages is truly fitting for a show that has travelled the world and now lands in our diverse country.

3 Something for everyone. From extreme rollerskating to multiple hula-hooping to impaling oneself on a cactus, there's humour and discomfort, joy and danger, often all at once. Most appropriately, while you're noticing one outrageous thing happening on the stage, the person sitting beside you is reacting to something else you hadn't even spotted yet. It's sort of like a Dalí painting itself – each time you look at it, you see something you hadn't really ever seen before.

4 It keeps you thinking. You'll find yourself considering the numerous, multidisciplinary talents of the performers, the logistics planned and organised by the stage crew, and what it must have been like to rediscover the scrim after six decades. You'll wonder if you're seeing a glimpse of what the world looked like through Dalí's eyes and what he might have thought if he knew that a painting he created as one show's backdrop now has new life as another show's centrepiece.

5 Top-notch absurdity. Not five minutes into the show a performer is driving a bullhead on a bicycle frame around the stage. Before you think it can't be possible, aerialists' performances indeed push the limits of unbelievability. There are centre-stage costume changes, objects raining on the stage, dancers in feather headdresses, a man running with elongated arms, juggling, can-can dancing and aerialists on double-helixes. But above all, a pianist with a rhino's head.