OVO is teeming with life. Insects work, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy in motion. Their home is filled with biodiversity, beauty, action and moments of quiet emotion. The awestruck insects are intensely curious when a mysterious egg appears, representing the enigma and cycles of their lives.

Opening night of one of the newer Arena acts to go on tour, Cirque du Soleil OVO! The buildup for this event, has been a great one. The show follows a day in the life of bugs. One would not think bugs could be entertaining but the performers bring their characters to life so well. Absolutely amazing how a production like this can go from concept to showroom floor and wow everyone involved. The beginning phases of screenplay writing and conceptual art can sometimes take up to six months on their own. The rest of what follows can take up to two years to perfect before our eyes actually see any of it. Many details go into consideration; including the design elements of the set, the acrobatics that will be involved, along with each performance having their own custom soundtrack of music. This music typically sets the scene for each act as they come out onto the stage. Watching the performance last night for the first time, I was immediately pulled into the show. With great crescendos and falls, I myself was living amongst the bugs, dancing along with them in my mind. Powerful music combined with powerful dance created such beautiful images in front of my eyes, ‘twas like watching poetry in motion. Nicolas Chabot, the publicist for OVO was our tour guide for this behind the scenes walk-through. Nicolas comes from a background in television and currently resides in Montreal, Canada. Being with Cirque du Soleil for just over a year, Nicolas works primarily handling the publicity for OVO, as well as many other tasks in between.

As we are walking and touring the behind the scenes, we venture to where the performers are practicing their trapeze acts. Such amazing talent goes into what you see when you watch them on stage. The performers travel with personal trainers, their own personal gym and hire massage therapists in each city to keep them at their peak performance level. Such dedication, by not only the dancers, but the behind the scenes crew as well, shows their true passion for the arts. With a total of 50 performers representing 21 countries on stage, there are at least double that behind the scenes. Workers setting up the rigging structures, seamstresses doing repairs on costumes between shows and instructors leading Pilates classes for the performers.

For instance, each outfit the performers wear usually takes around 75 hours to complete. Amazing amounts of detail go into these beautiful pieces with functionality and performance of the acrobats, wearing them being the top priority. What you usually see as an audience member is only a small aspect of what goes on behind the scenes to bring you the show. Nineteen trucks bringing in scaffolding for the aerial acts, all of the makeup and costumes as well as their own personal washers and dryers to allow the cast to wash their outfits after each night’s performance. A crucial aspect when they are literally on the road week after week with little to no time to get to a laundromat. Usually arriving on Tuesday to the city they will be performing in, the setup begins to take place immediately with the crew setting up the stage and all of the weights and backstage areas for the performers to utilize. With each arena being different, this process can become a little tricky at times. The show usually begins on a Wednesday night with performances lasting through the weekend.

Something you may be jealous of, which I certainly was, is that M.A.C. & Ben NYE cosmetics create custom colors for the performers you see on set, specifically made for Cirque du Soleil cast members to match their costumes beautifully. None of which you can purchase yourself in any store. Looking through all of the makeup, I quickly asked why we were not given a gift bag of this amazing product! Hyper pigments of red, green, purple and blue. I was in heaven to say the least!

Wrapping up the tour we watch the Crickets as they are practicing their tumbling acts. I am in awe once again and get lost in their aerobatic capabilities. If you have never had the opportunity to check out a live performance of Cirque du Soleil, I highly recommend any of them to you. Each story sucks you in and captivates you every time without fail. The costumes, music and storyline are beautiful to witness live.

Cirque du Soleil will be at the Budweiser event center in Ft. Collins through this weekend and then makes its way down to Colorado Springs for next weekend so you have plenty of time to check out this amazing performance yourself!!

As always, thanks for the read and make sure to check us out on Facebook and give our page a like!

Till next time

xoxo,

Bella

Find me on Facebook: @bella rage

Instagram: @disco_bella

Photos by Teddy G / Xposer Photography

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