Forget the animals — Cirque Eloize uses its talent to wow the audience with dance, music and acrobatic acts.

Cirque …loize (pronounced El-waz) will present “Nomade” at Stephens Auditorium Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The carnival-style show includes juggling, trapeze, levitation and contortion. However, there are no animals in the performance.

“There is a lot of humor and a lot of romance. It’s a love story between the lovers onstage and between us and the audience,” says Bartlomiej Soroczynski, one of the show’s 18 performers. “It is very poetic.”

Daniele Finzi Pasca, the director of “Nomade,” says the show, which features 17 different acts, revolves around the idea that we are all wanderers in life.

“In the great journey of life, we are all nomads, wandering from one love to the next, from one sorrow to the next,” Pasca says.

Pasca gets his performance ideas and images from the stories his grandmother told him about his ancestors.

“My memory is filled with places I’ve never seen, faces I’ve never met,” Pasca says.

Pasca compares the circus performers to nomads, because they travel from city to city and have many tales to tell.

These performers have certainly traveled. With more than 1,500 performances behind it, Cirque …loize has been to 20 countries and more than 200 cities.

“Nomade” debuted in Three Rivers, Quebec, in June 2002, and then began its international tour in the United States. The tour is now returning to the United States.

Cirque …loize originated in 1993 after seven graduates of Montreal’s National Circus School formed a new troupe. The name …loize is an island term for the lightning seen on the horizon on hot days. “Nomade” is one of four productions produced by Cirque …loize. In 2003, Cirque Orchestra won a Gemini Award, which is similar to the Academy Awards in the United States, for Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program.

Cirque …loize is unique for reasons besides its lack of four-legged creatures. Cirque du Soleil, often considered the “big brother” to Cirque …loize, performs under a tent; Cirque …loize is performed onstage. The company feels this brings intimacy to the audience and performers.

Artistic director Jeannot Painchaud, one of the founders of Cirque …loize, says the characters in Cirque du Soleil are often fictional, while the characters in Cirque …loize have more human qualities.

“We use the realistic sense of characters so you can recognize yourself onstage,” Painchaud says. “There are so many ways to explore how to do the circus.”

Who: “Cirque …loize presents ‘Nomade'”

Where: Stephens Auditorium

When: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday

Cost: $13.50-$16.50 students, $25.50-$31.50 public