To make an audience swoon, the performing arts company Strange Fruit takes a love story, colors it with whimsical costumes and makeup, and acts it out through a magical mix of theater, dance and circus techniques.

Oh yeah, and they do it while perched on flexible poles 13 feet in the air.

"People do get spellbound with how we move through space, which is part of the magic, really," says 33-year-old Kathryn Jamieson, who's been with the Melbourne, Australia-based troupe for seven years.

It's the closest thing you can get to flying, Jamieson says with a laugh during a phone conversation earlier this week while on the road from South Orange, N.J., to the Big Apple. She and three other Strange Fruit performers are currently on a U.S. summer tour.

Since mid-July, they've performed "Swoon!" -- a love story -- at such venues as Chicago's Millennium Park and the Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles, and will end the tour at Bumbershoot, Seattle's annual music and arts festival held Labor Day weekend.

But before that, they're coming to Yakima to perform in Thursday's second annual SummerEnder, an outdoor festival presented by The Seasons, the Capitol Theatre and the Committee for Downtown Yakima, along with support from Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center.

The eclectic event will take over a shady stretch of Naches Avenue in downtown Yakima. Here, folks will find food offerings from Buhrmaster Baking Co., Santiago's and Café Melange. Masset, Kana and Plaza Socievole wineries will serve up their best vinos in the wine and beer garden, where the new Yakima Craft Brewing Co. will also have some suds on tap.

For the little ones, there's a kids zone with hands-on activities and games.

Over on The Seasons' front porch, there'll be performances by The Senate, Carrie Rodriguez and the Bill Frisell Trio.

Seattle's The Senate are no strangers to Yakima. Several weeks ago, the raucous unplugged trio -- which prides itself on playing "face-melting acoustic riffage" -- took the stage at Franklin Park for a Summer Sunset Concert, then played the next night as the Yakima Sports Center.

Coming from the other coast is Rodriguez, a classically trained Brooklyn-based beauty (via Austin, Texas) who plays a feisty fiddle and meshes bluesy alt-country with indie singer-songwriter sensibilities.

Lastly is Grammy-winning contemporary jazz guitarist Frisell, who's called Seattle home since the late 1980s.

In between musical acts, Strange Fruit will be twirling, spinning and swaying above the intersection of Naches Avenue and A Street.

Performed without dialogue, but backed by a beautiful score, "Swoon!" is part aerial ballet, part theatrical performance that tells a tale of love, loss, joy and freedom.

Strange Fruit has a repertoire of seven shows that explore different themes; all are performed on poles and typically play to an audience in the round.

"And where you sit," explains Strange Fruit's Jamieson, "you get a different story and a different experience."

Standing on a perch, the performers are attached by a harness to the sway poles, which are 4 meters high (that's a little more than 13 feet). The male performers have what's called a tilt harness that allows them to move their feet off the perch -- sure to draw gasps from the crowd.

"Most other equipment, like circus equipment, people usually have to hold on to something, so you don't have the freedom of expression like we have," says Jamieson, who has a background as a gymnast and a diver.

As you can imagine, to gracefully pull off this aerial ballet requires movement and manipulation of the whole body.

Weather is also a factor. If it's too cold, the sway poles spin more. Too hot and they bend more. If it's raining or too windy, the show can't go on.

But performing in the elements is part of the fun, says Jamieson. And each new environment changes the feel of the show.

"It really is as fun as it looks," she says.

* To see a video clip from one of Strange Fruit's "Swoon!" performances, visit On's blog at on.yakimablogs.com.

If you go

WHAT: Second annual SummerEnder.

WHO: The Senate, Carrie Rodriguez, the Bill Frisell Trio and Strange Fruit, plus a beer and wine garden, food vendors and a kids zone.

WHEN: Gates open at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

WHERE: In front of The Seasons, 101 N. Naches Ave. (See map.)

HOW MUCH: Advance tickets cost $20 for adults, $10 for students ages 13-20, and are free for children 12 and under. Tickets purchased at the gate cost an additional $5.

A family package (two adults and two students) is also available for $45. Additional children's tickets cost $5.

Tickets may be purchased through TicketsWest, 800-325-7328, www.ticketswest.com, or the Capitol Theatre box office, 853-2787. (The family package is only available through the Capitol box office.)

INFO: Visit www.capitoltheatre.org or www.seasonsmusicfestival.com.