Everything is dark, the stars dance in front of your eyes and you are slowly lulled into the surreal dream world of Nomade. A collage of dreamscapes, concerning love, adoration and the fascination of romance sweeps before your eyes. Strange creatures come and go, as they are wont to do in dreams. The soft darkness rises, a man climbs up a maypole, entranced by a passing bride; he uses only his arms to climb to the top, moves impossibly around the pole at times flouting all laws of gravity. He descends to the base of the pole head first, drawn to the departing bride, folk music plays eerily in the background and Nomade begins to rapturous applause. 
      Each scene of Nomade depicts an extraordinary dream sequence. In dreams we often feel like we can do anything so the basic rules of physics cease to matter when we play out our fantasies. The cast of Eloise make such dreams a reality in an atmosphere of eerie exhilaration. The audience is taken in by this and voyeuristically watches someone else's fantasy world spill out over the stage. They are spellbound for the full hour and a half, sitting on the edge of their seats enthralled. 
      Nomade tells the story of the course of a man's love, the gradual change from a woman being the object of his affection to being his wife. This woman has many guises in his dreams, many faces. Strange things happen to the man in the dream, at times he is a ridiculed figure, at others he is the melancholy protagonist. He spends his time fighting for her affections in the midst of the weird world he has created for himself. 
      Cirque Eloise has a cast with a combined talent that can only be referred to as phenomenal. Each scene appears choreographed yet relaxed, an amazing feat considering the dangers of highflying acrobats, without nets. Each individual act is stunning, each player adding his or her own particular twist on the production. As only the very excellent can, they make things appear easy, spontaneous even. This is the greatest accomplishment of all, especially when considering acts like somersaulting off a 10 cm wide piece of wood held in the air and landing back on it without so much as a wobble! 
      The direction was immaculate, and importantly the performers looked like they were having the time of their lives. 
      Not to be missed for love nor money!
Elizabeth Shenton