Cirque Eloize is a Quebec-based contemporary circus founded in 1993 by Jeannot Painchaud, Daniel Cyr and Julie Hamelin. The group has put on nine original productions, putting on nearly 4,000 performances in more than 400 cities across 36 different countries. In addition to putting on its own original performances, the group has also developed more than 1,000 international special events.The group’s first show was Cirque Eloize, le spectacle that ran from 1993 to 1997. The troupe then put on Excentricus from 1997 to 2002. Cirque Orchestra came next from 2000 to 2002. This helped Cirque Eloize win the Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program or Serie category in 2003. In 2002, the group put out Nomade, which ran from 2002 to 2006. In 2004, the troupe put out Rain. Rain was nominated for a 2006 Drama Desk Award, and has been touring across Broadway since the fall of 2007.Cirque Eloize teamed up with Jamie Adkins to create Typo, a solo show that put on more than 200 performances and gained a number of awards and accolades from critics. The show was nominated for three Drama Desk Awards in 2005. The show also collected five awards at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de demain. The group also put out Nebbia. Currently, Cirque Eloize has out two productions, ID and Cirkopolis.Cirque Eloize and its members have been awarded a number of awards. In 1992, Jeannot Painchaud won the artistic bicycle award at the Festival Mondial du Cirqeu de demain. Also at the Festival, Symbiose won for their hand-balancing act in 2002, and Daniel Cyr won for his Cyr Wheel performance in 2003.Cirque Eloize is also known for their charitable work. The company founded the Fondation Eloize, which helps underprivileged youth by introducing them to the arts. The Artcirq troupe is made up Inuit tribes in the far north of Canada and are the first recipient of the foundation efforts.