A more intimate Cirque

Through Canadian companies like Cirque du Soleil and Cirque Éloize, productions that blend aerial acrobatics and circus skills with music, dance, and theatrical narrative have become mainstream entertainment. The five-member New York troupe Suspended Cirque is considerably more modest in scope, and the resulting intimacy is part of the point.

“We’re inspired by Cirque du Soleil,’’ says company cofounder Ben Franklin. “They do amazing things that are huge, epic, but far away. We like to be right next to you so you can reach out and touch us, and to tell real stories the everyday person can understand.’’

Franklin calls the troupe a “get-up-and-go, do-everything-ourselves’’ kind of company, putting shows together collaboratively and directing by committee. The BCA show is not only the company’s Boston debut, but its first performance outside New York, where the performers are artists in residence at the Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn.

The company’s members — Franklin, Joshua Dean, Michelle Dortignac, Angela Jones, and Kristin Olness — bring a range of personal and artistic experience to the table. “I’m a music theater boy,’’ says Franklin. “I worked extensively at Lincoln Center, did national tours… . We all found aerial in our own ways. I kind of got dragged into it, and now it’s my life.’’

Cofounder Jones says aerial work is a vibrant medium for artistic expression, not just a showcase for virtuosic movement. “We want to do so much more than simply show off skills,’’ Jones says. “We all have something to express, and that’s what makes the show strong, that we each can bring something different to the table physically and emotionally.’’

The troupe has created six shows over the past 2 ½ years, including one with a jazz band. “UnTamed’’ includes a crew of guest artists: the violinist/vocalist Megan Loomis, ribbon dancer Lani Corson, contortionist duo Lissome Ladies, and Jordana Che Toback and Dancers.