Bright bugs of many shapes and colors will teem on and above the stage for Cirque du Soleil’s show, “OVO.” There are scarabs, crickets, a lady bug, a fly, red ants, a few spiders, a dragonfly, fireflies, fleas and the Creatura.
Before the show, the scene is quite similar. Some 50 performers from about 15 countries and just as many support staff rehearse, rest, set up equipment, eat and ready themselves for the six shows they’ll perform at the Verizon Wireless Arena from tonight to Sunday.
A day before the performances, Qiu Jiangming of China was practicing his slackwire act under the guidance of his coach, called “Mama Coach,” who is actually his mother. She was formerly a highwire artist and contortionist. Jiangming’s father and grandfather were also slackwire circus performers.
Jiangming portrays the gray spider.
Suspended from a metal frame, designed to look like vines, runs a thin cable looping downward. Jiangming starts just balancing on the wire. Then, he does a few somersaults. Then, handstands. After that, he retrieves a vine-like post with pegs, balances it on the wire and supports himself upside down on that. Rehearsal’s not done yet. Next, he retrieves a tireless unicycle, balances the wheel on the cable, and, upside down, wheels himself along the cable.
Ariunsanaa Baata, 28, of Mongolia, is the character of the white spider. There are also a red and a black spider who perform in supporting roles during her contortion performance.
Baata, like Jiangming, was introduced to circus performing by her family. Her father was a porter, which is a performer who tosses a flyer performer in an aerial Russian Bar routine. She would go watch the circus with him, and it was always the contortionist who interested her most.
She started practicing contortion when she was 7 years old, Baata said. She explained that her body got used to it, though she does have some soreness, like most athletes. Stretching and being self-aware enough to know when to train and when to rest limits that.
Baata spent most of her childhood in Brazil, and she began to perform contortion and adagio (stationary balancing act) in a traditional circus there when she was 9 years old with her father.
She joined Cirque du Soleil five years ago after applying online and being accepted six months later. She first performed in “Quidam,” then “Saltimbanco.” She has been performing in the tent show of “OVO” for two years before it recently went on tour as a stage show this year.
She rehearses for about three hours a day while touring, and even more after the tent “OVO,” which premiered in 2009, was reimagined for the stage. Then, it was two to three months of relearning the act with revised story, music and format.
“OVO,” directed by Deborah Colker (who is also the first female Cirque du Soleil director), was inspired by the movement of bugs and the stage version tells the story of The Foreigner (Francois-Guillaume LeBlanc of Quebec), a fly who arrives at the colony and falls head over wings for The Ladybug (Michelle Matlock of Seattle). When an egg arrives in the bug community, everyone is awestruck and curious. “Ovo” in Portuguese means “egg.”
The whole show isn’t just about the egg, Baata said. There’s lots of characters, colors, clowns and more. There is a high level of acrobatics.
“It’s an enjoyable, funny, fun show,” she said.
The acts in “OVO” are ants who juggle their dinner . . . and each other; a dragonfly balance act on oversized plant tendrils; fireflies juggling spinning diabolos; a dance with the Creatura, who doesn’t have a clear top or bottom; the spiders; acrobatic fleas, a wall and jumping act with hopping crickets; and scarab beetles soar through the air.
Backstage Wednesday, the scarab beetles who perform a Russian Cradle flying act were warming up. One bounced on a trampoline. Another did a handstand. The others did some stretching on a blue mat. Standard exercise equipment, like stationary bikes, and more exotic equipment like what publicist Jessica Leboeuf called “the jungle gym,” which can support rigging for the slackline and the cradles used for the acrobats.
Their act features four male porters who toss their female flyer partners back and forth high above the stage. The flyers flip and perform splits before catching the hands of their partner on the opposite side and being tossed back again.
During rehearsal, the flyers have safety harnesses. If they slip, they are caught by a spotter. Come showtime, however, there’s nothing but net and the stage below.
Other rooms backstage were a hive of activity. The 50 performers all have three to seven costumes, which are washed in machines that travel with the troupe and air dried by fans. A staff of four wardrobe specialists – Kara of South Korea, Corinne of Canada, Amy of the United States and Julie of the United Kingdom – fix worn spots, repaint shoes and make sure everything is in working order.
The costumes are all handmade. A single cricket costume takes about 75 hours to make. And even with repairs and routine maintenance, the costumes only last a few months since the performers have six to 10 shows a week.
There’s a mess hall where Spectrum Concessions feeds about 100 people meals every day. They tour with the Cirque du Soleil performers, try to incorporate local foods in with the performers’ cultural dishes, and meet everyone’s dietary needs and restrictions.
All together, 20 big-rigs travel with Cirque du Soleil’s gear just for the “OVO” show. The performers and staff will fly or take buses to the next stop on tour. Then, they have a day or two off before the buzz of activity – and the next set of shows – begins again.
“OVO” will be held at the Verizon Wireless Arena tonight at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets start at $44 and can be purchased at cirquedusoleil.com/ovo or through the arena’s box office.