With no lions, no tigers, and no bears, the young performers in Ethiopia’s Circus Tigray still manage to elicit gasps of wonder from their audiences. Unlike those French cirques that seem to hit town every few months, Tigray uses no fancy lighting effects or explosions—just a gym mat, a few unicycles, traditional Ethiopian instruments, and lots of charm. At one point during the circus’s performance a couple of years ago, members of the audience handed so many tips to an angelic-voiced boy he was covered in dollar bills by the end of his song. The acrobats steal the show, though, with their red-gold-and-green costumes and physics-defying flexibility. Circus Tigray’s appeal doesn’t derive from its faraway locale, but from the opportunity it gives us to enjoy the simple pleasures of pure performance in our high-tech world. At 8 p.m. at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium, 2455 6th St. NW. $20. (202) 806-7194. (Holly Bass)