GONE are the days when circus troupes relied on performing lions or elephants to bring the awe factor to their shows. Now, companies such as Cirque Eloize (pronounced "el-waz") work consistently to keep their routines fresh to entertain audiences so they don't even miss the animals.

The combination of urban dance and circus arts was first brought to life by the Canadian company's show iD. Created in 2009, the show toured Singapore two years after its conception, and returns this year with an almost entirely new cast, a tighter routine, but the same magnetism that drew viewers the last time.

Co-founder of Cirque Eloize and director of iD Jeannot Painchaud says during a telephone interview from his native Montreal: "We have maybe two or three artists who've been with us from the start. The show naturally evolves with new artists because we like to give them the space to bring in their own identities, especially in a show like this one, whose emphasis is on the emotional evolution of the characters within."