Female acrobats perform on stage – a first for the country!

Montréal, Monday January 15, 2018 – Last week, Cirque Éloize successfully presented the first series of their show Cirkopolis to full houses of some 2,000 people per performance in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

In addition to performing for the very first time in Saudi Arabia, Cirque Éloize is also the first circus that has been permitted to have female artists perform on stage in front of an audience of both men and women.  After three sold-out performances on January 11, 12 and 13 in Dammam, the troupe is now travelling to Riyadh to present its popular creation Cirkopolis January 18, 19 and 20 to some 2,500 people per evening.

One of the driving motors behind the creation of a show is the audacity to generate intercultural encounters with new audiences and to share our values, our sense of beauty and our definition of democracy. I’d like to think that art can take the edge off certain cultural practices. Wonder opens the mind and creates a space for communication. This is what we wish to accomplish with the presentation Cirkopolis in Saudi Arabia.

 The desire of Cirque Éloize is also to share moments of beauty and poetry, an interesting form of cultural diplomacy. When an opportunity presents itself to go share our values in new territories, it is a form of positive activism. Reaching out is a way of sharing a certain world vision. We are working for peace.

• Jeannot Painchaud, President and Cofounder of Cirque Éloize

 We are very enthusiastic about the idea of welcoming Cirque Éloize in Saudi Arabia, especially since it is the first time women are on stage in a circus performance. We are happy and proud to be able to present audiences an internationally recognized show, with high level performances, which have a considerable impact on the region.

• Walid Jabbour, Promoter

Considering the current success of Cirkopolis in the country, there is a very strong chance that Saloon, Cirque Éloize’s latest creation, as well as its new 2018 show will also soon be presented in Saudi Arabia. Saloon is currently on a world tour and will return to Quebec in the spring to continue touring across the province.

• 5 April: Drummondville – Maison des Arts de Drummondville
• 6 April: St-Jean-sur Richelieu – Théâtre des Deux-Rives
• 7 April: St-Jérôme – Théâtre Gilles-Vigneault
• 11 April: Granby – Palace de Granby
• 13 April: Valleyfield – Salle Albert-Dumouchel
• 14 April: Gatineau – Salle Odysée
• 20 April: Victoriaville – Carré 150
• 21 April: St-Hyacinthe – Centre des Arts Juliette-Lassonde
• 27 April: L’Assomption – Théâtre Hector-Charland
• 29 April: Chicoutimi – Théâtre Banque Nationale
• 2 May: Sherbrooke – Salle Maurice O’Bready
• 7 May: Québec – Salle Albert-Rousseau

As part of the 25^th anniversary celebrations of Cirque Éloize’s founding, a new touring show will be unveiled soon with a stop planned for Montréal in November 2018. As announced a few weeks ago, Cirque Éloize will also present a new creation, Nezha, in partnership with the Cité de l’énergie next August. Finally, Cirque Éloize will participate in the 30^th edition of the Festival du Cirque de Demain in Paris which will take place this February 1 to 4.