Rein dance

Long, flowing manes tossed in the spotlight? Check. Crowd-pleasing dance moves? Check.

Diva demands for a dressing room stocked with Dom Perignon or uber-trendy bonbons? Make that carrot chunks and horse treats.

The next group to rock the John Paul Jones Arena once rocked the battlefield, then survived a close call with extinction and made a comeback for the books. The World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions will bring expertly synchronized dance maneuvers to two Sunday shows.

The horses stay busy on tour, presenting five to six performances a week, producer Gary Lashinsky said.

“They love the applause,’’ Lashinsky said. “When the lights go down, the spotlight goes on and the music goes on, they’re hams.’’

The horses will perform many of the famous exercises from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, as well as a big-band swing number.

“Basically, the show stays traditional, but we try to do more of an entertaining family presentation rather than an equestrian event,’’ Lashinsky said. “It’s like ‘Dancing with the Horses’ instead of ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ ’’

Lashinsky said the group looks forward to returning to the John Paul Jones Arena, which he called “one of the best facilities in the United States. “It makes a good, intimate presentation for the Lipizzaners,’’ he said. “No seat is a bad seat.’’

Not familiar with equestrian events? Not to worry. Narrator Troy Tinker has you covered — he will explain what to look for.

At the beginning of the show, basic steps and movements will be explained, and horses and their riders will demonstrate them. That’s where audience participation comes in. In one segment, spectators will be asked to applaud when they see the horses performing the steps, Lashinsky said.

Folks accustomed to seeing 3-year-old thoroughbreds in the Kentucky Derby and other top races might be surprised to learn that the performing Lipizzaners are about 12 to 16 years old.

“That seems old for a horse, but a Lipizzaner is a very slow-maturing horse,’’ Lashinsky said. In fact, he said, some horses have performed into their 30s.

Even growing into that shimmering adult color takes time. Except for an occasional white colt, the stallions are born black and gradually lighten in hue over six to 10 years. It takes years of training for the horses to master the steps needed to land a spot in the famous formations, which include the pas de trois, pas de quatre and grande quadrille. Trainers carefully observe each horse at work and play to spot hidden talents and rely on four centuries of tradition to decide when a horse is ready to move up to more challenging movements.

Also making an appearance in Sunday’s program will be some Spanish Andalusians, a forefather in the Lipizzaner family tree.

Audiences will see new choreography and more Airs Above the Ground — a series of moves, including levade, courbette and capriole, that only the strongest and smartest steeds accomplish.

Airs Above the Ground, though presented with a haunting balletic quality, evoke the origins of the breed. Under the elegant white exterior of the show stallion is the DNA of a war horse.

Strong, nimble, smart and resilient, the Lipizzaners first turned heads as the Lamborghinis of war horses in the late 1500s. Favorites of royalty and the military aristocracy, the horses were fearless fighters — and intimidated plenty of their opponents with gravity-defying leaps and bounds.

It’s fitting, then, that a fellow soldier gets the credit for saving the breed from certain death during World War II. Gen. George S. Patton ordered Col. Charles H. Reed and the 42nd Squadron of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry to rescue the remaining horses after starving refugees facing few options in tough times tried to steal them for food.

“The breed was nearly extinct at the end of the Second World War,’’ Lashinsky said.

Even today, there are only 3,000 to 3,200 Lipizzaners in the world, Lashinsky said.

Thankfully, none of these horses will end up charging into battle.

“They’re the royalty of the horse world, and they’re treated that way,’’ Lashinsky said.

That means plenty of rest and down time. The horses also get a healthy diet and those vitamin-packed horse treats, not to mention plenty of affection from the humans who grow fonder of them each year they work with them.

“I’ve been doing this for forty years, and I know my horses,’’ Lashinsky said. “I know them by name.’’