(FORTUNE Magazine) – The diverse band of clowns, jugglers, and gymnasts employed by famed, Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil presents a vexing management challenge. Cirque's 1,250 performers and other staffers come from 17 countries, speak 13 languages, and are often scattered across the globe in troupes from Las Vegas to Latvia. Keeping track of them and their needs is a genuine high-wire act--one the Cirque's corporate ringmasters apparently have learned to perform quite well. Workforce magazine, a publication for human-resource professionals, recently cited the company for its achievements in handling its far-flung labor force--an honor previously bestowed on heavy hitters like Gillette and Coca-Cola. Among the keys to their success, say company officials, are assigning an HR executive to each tour to deal with daily problems, and peppering employees with a steady stream of bulletins and newsletters from headquarters. The idea is to make sure highfliers know they've got support on the ground.