Canada's Cirque Éloize Brings Avant-Garde Acrobatics to Moscow

Quebecois circus troupe Cirque Éloize will return to Moscow on Sunday to mesmerize crowds with the avant-garde style and daring acrobatics that have come to define them.



The troupe arrived in Moscow earlier this month to launch their Russian tour of "iD," a production about life and love in the big city. Touring cast members represent some 13 different disciplines, from breakdance to aerial silks, contortion and extreme trampolining.



Weaving together this diverse medley of disciplines, the cast creates something of a frenetically paced modern interpretation of "Romeo and Juliet." "Him — a daredevil who has fun doing awesome breakdance moves, parkour roof-jumping or crazy roller-skating rides. And her — a fragile and impressively flexible beauty full of charming grace," the circus said in promotional materials.



Among the production's many highlights is an unusual pas de deux between a contortionist and a breakdancer, during which the two artists mirror each other's moves in reverse. For each impressive balancing act performed by the breakdancer, his partner responds by folding her body into seemingly impossible forms, reminiscent of her suitor's.



The troupe will perform "iD" at Moscow's Rossiya concert hall on Nov. 2-5, before venturing east. Over the next couple of months, the show will make its way through Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Magnitogorsk, Yaroslavl, Kazan and Tolyatti.



Photographs by Igor Grishin, courtesy of Cirque Éloize.