True confession. I was a nerdy kid who loved bugs. I collected caterpillars with colorful spikes on their heads. I would put them in shoeboxes to watch the egg, cocoon, and chrysalis cycle. I patiently waited weeks for the winged miracle to emerge, and invariably, I would get a brown moth. Cirque du Soleil's production of Ovo fulfilled my childhood dreams of beautiful butterflies and bright green crickets dancing happily in a parallel world.
Brazilian native Deborah Colker created, choreographed, and directed Ovo's premiere in 2009. Colker also directed the restaging, which is now touring and had a four-show run at the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates. For two hours, including an intermission, my childhood imagination was fulfilled. Ovo means egg in Portuguese, and the ecosystem of insects begins with eggs. Ovo captures insects' colors and imagined personalities on a stage with a jungle background resembling a globe.
A love story is at the center of Ovo, when a Foreigner Bug comes to the bug village carrying a colossal egg. Foreigner is a sparkly blue with spikes, and Ladybug is immediately intrigued. Master Flipo is like the mayor of this bug system and wants to be in charge of the giant egg. Master Flipo has antennae that act as defibrillators when the Foreigner faints. Ladybug flirts and pursues the Foreigner, and in return, he is coy and flirty and egged on by Master Flipo. While the love story develops, the denizens of this ecosystem frolic and buzz about in thrilling feats of strength, balance, and agility.
The fanciful set is designed by Gringo Cardia. Red Ants bounce and juggle giant kiwi slices with their feet. Giant translucent hibiscus looks like trees over the habitat. Ladybug carries a gingko leaf parasol. A fuzzy black spider lands and does a balancing act on a metal rig, requiring gravity-defying core strength. A swarm of bright green bugs performs on dual trampolines, scaling a climbing wall. Aerialists and trapeze artists drew gasps from the audience, hurling through the air and being caught in what seemed to be the nick of time. My brother Patrick—also a wildlife nerd—joined me and looked on in wonder like the wide-eyed little boy I remember him being.
The makeup design by Julie Bégin perfectly complement the costumes, and Eric Champoux's lighting design adds depth and richness to the colors. Brazilian composer Berna Ceppas blends bossa nova, samba, funk, and authentic insect sounds for the soundtrack of Ovo. A live seven-piece band and a singer add an aural gilding to this show. The band's instruments lend a world music vibe of Brazilian, French, and Romani. Acoustic guitar, violin, and accordion are the dominant sounds, with winds, bass, and percussion giving a heartbeat to this fantasy world. The talented performers are from all over the planet, and 17 nationalities are represented.
As a kid, I was particularly fascinated with bees and ants because they had a social structure with a class system. Once I learned about worker bees, queens, and drones, I wondered about their correlation to humans. Our neighborhood had a patch of wetlands before it was developed into maligned prefab housing. I would sit hidden in the tall grasses of that patch, watching and imagining. Ovo brought that memory back, and I was a happy 8-year-old again.
Cirque du Soleil was born in 1984 in Montréal, Canada, from the imagination and talents of Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix. The concept of a circus with sleight of hand and acrobatics emerged from European countries and Romani travelers. European influence has been prominent in some of the storylines, such as Cortéo, which followed the life of a famous clown watching his life history and funeral. I have not experienced the same whimsy and pathos in American circuses.
Cirque du Soleil's Ovo ran for six performances, February 13-16, at the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates. Cirque has an ongoing presence in Las Vegas, where it stages five different shows at five venues. For more information on the company, visit https://www.cirquedusoleil.com.
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