A Review

Poetic Simplicity

By R. J. Donovan

Cirque Eloize (pronounce it “El-Wahz”) has strolled into The Wilbur with its offering of “Nomade” for a short run through Sunday, Jan 25. 

Under the artistic direction of Jeannot Painchaud, the two hour evening combines theatre with circus thrills. Blending the modern with the traditional, the production includes acrobatics, balancing acts, pin juggling, contortionists, music and clowning.

The concept is similar to Cirque du Soleil, only without the high-tech luster. The descriptions are interchangeable when you consider the ethereal elements of dreams, fantasy, imagination and wistful new age music.

However, this not a circus with floppy clown shoes, Chinese dragon heads or a language all its own. With Eloize, the troupe of performers is more like a roving band of peasant entertainers who travel by moonlight.  And the 18 individuals do everything in the show -- perform, move the equipment, help with the scenery and so on.

The big difference between the Cirques is that du Soleil is heavy on the impersonal flash while Eloize relies more on the human connection.

Clearly, the show has an old-World, European wash to it.  Very shadowy, with a lighting design that puts an emphasis on the footlights at the lip of the stage.  This gives the picture an old-fashioned lit-from-below glow.

The press materials explain that the performers will “wander through their own memories and dreams to a place that’s strangely familiar, boisterous and lyrical. Their journey begins at dusk and ends at dawn because at nighttime, the sky shines with endless possibilities.”

Two clowns (Bartlomeij Soroczynski and Nicolas Leresche) introduce the evening and then we’re off on our journey. There’s a gypsy wedding being held, we’re invited to a banquet and the segments that lay it all out kind of flow one to the next without much set-up. 

Several of the performers are truly impressive, including a male-female team who spin -- she on a ring in the air, and he (Antoine Carabinier Lepine) in a giant wheel (“Roue Cyr”) on the floor.  There's another spot featuring Nicolas Roche, a exceptionally strong young guy who floats (effortlessly, it seems) high above the stage courtesy of two long straps that wrap and unwrap around his arms.  And there's, Genevieve Gauthier, a clothed female contortionist who twists herself all over the place as she gives herself a bath with a squishy sponge grasped firmly between her toes.

There were also three women who eloquently manipulated a trio of crystal balls, and three couples who go through a slow motion waltz-hand balancing act.  There was also an odd though fairly athletic routine on teeter boards, presented by the entire company in baggy underwear. And the finale finds a sensuous couple performing one-on-one acrobatics as a mist gently falls on the stage.

Cirque Eloize was founded in 1993 by seven performers from the Magdelan Islands who were all graduates of Montreal’s National Circus School. Their aim was so offer a fresh look on circus arts by designing shows for general audiences of any language. Since then, the company has staged more than a thousand performances in 20 countries around the world.

"Cirque Elioze " is at The Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont Street in Boston, through January 25. For information, call For information, call 617-931-2787

Production photos: Image-Media Maurice / Patrick Beauchamp

-- OnStage Boston

1/23/04