E3 Natal premiere by Cirque du Soleil

Microsoft's pre-E3 Project Natal showcase will be, "A spectacular live performance imagined by Cirque du Soleil," according to US invitations.

The platform holder confused the press earlier this month by insisting that the Sunday, 13th June affair would be a "Technology-free event". "Please leave your technology at home, no photography or video allowed," it said.

Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian outfit that does slightly bonkers shows mixing dance and circus acrobatics. This sort of thing.

The invite doesn't explain how the group is involved in what's described as the "World Premiere Project Natal for Xbox 360 Experience", but presumably they're not going to do star jumps and whack balls at bowling pins.

Microsoft will hold its traditional E3 conference a day later, where it is expected to price and date Natal and show off the hands-free controller's launch line-up.

The Xbox 360 firm is well known for its love of E3 stunts. As well as using the trade show to announce that previous PlayStation-exclusive series like Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy would also appear on its platforms, it's known for bringing in the celebs - last year managing to rustle up the non-dead Beatles and Steven Spielberg.

Thanks to Microsoft, we have also seen Duffy perform live. Breathtaking.