On Thursday I had the chance to watch the practice of Cirque du Soleil: OVO before the Detroit premiere. We were also able to go on a tour behind the scenes. Let’s take a look!
I love live performances, so I jumped at the chance to see all the cogs that make up a touring show.
Even though the show started last night you still have a few chances to see the show this weekend. There are two shows left on Saturday, and the final show will be on Sunday afternoon. They have special hours for this weekend, since it is Christmas weekend. There are still plenty of tickets available so it isn’t too late.
OVO takes look at the ecosystem of insects. It is a world where there is a diverse community all living together.
The main characters are Fly, Ladybug and Master Filpo. There are also crickets, spiders, butterflies, dragonflies, ants, scarabs, lighting bugs, flies and other insects living in this community.
When an egg (ovo in Portuguese) shows up it creates a stir with all of the insects.
Of course this is a simplified synopsis of the show. It’s hard to put into words everything that you would experience during OVO. Each insect group performs a specific acrobatic feat.
The scarabs perform Russian Cradle. The ant colony do Foot Juggling and Icarian Games. The female spiders bring you into their web with her body contortions.
The giant wall is 64 feet wide by 30 feet tall is used as part of the set, but it is also used during the performance.
The fantasy of Cirque du Soleil is partly due to all of the amazing things that these performers can do with their bodies, but it is also the costumes and makeup.
When I was taken backstage I was able to take a look at all of the costumes. The costume department travels with the show and is on hand for any costume emergencies.
Check out these Scarab and Cricket costumes. They are amazing.
The show also travels with their own clothes washers because the costumes need to be washed after every performance. Each piece is delicate and they don’t want to have something happen to one of them in an unknown washer.
I love makeup, so I was hoping that I would be able to talk to the makeup artist. But it just so happens that each performer does their own makeup for every performance while on tour.
Performers spend a lot of their time working out before and after each show.
The tour is a well-oiled machine, the show travels with 19 semi-trucks across the country. You can tell that every person on tour knows exactly what needs to be done and when it needs to be done.
Cirque du Soleil has become a household name since it started in Baie-Saint-Paul a small town outside of Quebec City in 1984. There are currently nineteen shows throughout the world; four arena shows, five big top shows, and ten resident shows. Each show has it’s own storyline and different acts to make it unique from each other.
This weekend is pretty hectic for most people, so the times of the shows have been changed to try and accommodate the public.
Saturday, December 24 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Sunday, December 25 3 p.m.
Tickets start at $44 per person.
Joe Louis Arena is located at 19 Steve Yzerman Drive in Detroit