Cirque du Soleil: Ovo
On Thursday, February 25, we went on a field trip with the KOCCA group to see Cirque du Soleil: Ovo in San Jose. When we drove up in our bus to the blue and yellow circus tents, we knew we were in for a special night.
Before the show started, the stage was occupied by a giant egg that took up the majority of the stage. We made guesses as to what was going to hatch out of it, but when the lights were dimmed, the egg seemed to disappear into the stage. When the lights came on again, we were transported into a world of insects.
The Ovo show was an amazing spectacle to me for several reasons. First of all was the pure acrobatics. These performers are capable of amazing strengths and feats of coordination that words cannot do justice for. They are extraordinarily talented individual performers that when brought together create magic. Highlights were red bug performers that synchronized spinning giant fruit props while also balancing on each other, a bug that juggled 3 Chinese yo-yos, another bug that balanced upside-down on a unicycle on a slackline, an elaborate caterpillar costume that was not visibly controlled by a human, a spider contortionist, and frogs that appeared to walk vertically by jumping on trampolines.
Second was the music and storytelling. It is impressive how clear the storyline is when there is only 1 or 2 words spoken during the entire production. The story followed the typical plotline with exposition, climax, and denouement. A lot of the mood is determined by the original score of music, which was performed by a live band of pill bugs. The costumes and set were also incredibly detailed and vibrant. There were two giant flowers set pieces that would appear to bloom in front of you. The set changes were always masked by clown banter or some sort of other performance distraction. The stage could move to reveal trampolines underneath and a series of holes for performers to enter and exit from.
The show was always engaging, whether relying on audience participation, slapstick clown humor, or the pure talent of their actors. Overall, the experience was an out-of-reality escape, an exploration into a fantasy world of colors, art, and athleticism.
The stage, before the show began.
