Cirque du Soleil's Corteo is coming to the Royal Albert Hall early next year

Cirque du Soleil is set to take over the Royal Albert Hall again early next year with a fresh staging of one of its most beloved hits, Corteo.

The Quebec contemporary circus company, which celebrates its 40th birthday next year, will transform the iconic London venue with a stage that splits the hall into two halves and each half of the audience facing the other.

Corteo, which means procession in Italian, shares the unique story of a clown who dreams about his own funeral playing out in a carnival atmosphere, with his fellow circus performers in attendance.

The show features countless feats of jaw-dropping acrobatics including aerial acts swinging from Chandeliers and floating over the audience on giant balloons.