Touring
CIRQUE ELOIZE
Runs: 1h 45, one interval
Birmingham Hippodrome to 28 03
Touring UK till 11 April 2015

Review: Alexander Ray Edser, 25 03 15

Grace, beauty, breath-taking power.
I’ve seen two circuses within a week. Last week Cirque Berserk, this time Cirque Eloize. They couldn’t be more different! Cirque Berserk is in-yer-face performance; Cirque Eloize is grace and beauty. They both demonstrate astounding physical skills.

Cirque Eloize present a show, underpinned with a simple narrative; it holds the show together, creates a satisfying sense of the whole. A group of individuals inhabit a brutal, grey, machine driven world; their outfits (with notable exceptions) are grey. This is a soulless world; yet in spite of their existence they discover circus – in dance-like, frequently haunting, performances. And with their circus-dance, they discover freedom, expression, romance and joy. Who lovely is that!

Individuals stand out from the dull conformity.

Early in the show is a lovely, lyrical section as a young woman, yearningly spins in a wheel. Later, astounding strength and graceful balance demonstrated in a sequence of handstands. There’s a remarkable sequence in which a performer animates a dress and scarf hanging from a rail. All the more remarkable because of its similarity to a sequence in Slava’s Snowshow. The similarity between the sequences highlights their differences, and we, as onlooker-participants are enriched by this physical theatre.

If I appear to wax lyrical, I merely reflect the powerful lyricism of Cirque Eloize.

I speak here of Eloize, I mention Berserk, I mention Slava. How these physical performers open up our mundane world and reveal it to be a place of wonder. It is exciting to be amazed over and over again.

Performers (Birmingham)
Maude Arseneault, Lea Toran Jenner, Joris De Jong, Mikael Bryere-L’Abbe, Ashley Carr, Yann Leblanc, Maria Combarros, Olivier Poitras, Nicolas Jelmoni, Charlotte O’Sullivan, Ugo Laffolay, Jonathan Julien, Frederic Lemieux-Cormier

Artistic and Co-Director: Jeannot Painchaud
Co-Director and Choreographer: Dave St Pierre

2015-03-26 20:58:31