By Melissa Vroon
September 9th, 2011
Wednesday night I had the pleasure of experiencing Ovo, Cirque Du Soleil’s latest show in Calgary. Ovo is about a world of insects with everything from climby, jumpy grasshoppers, ethereal butterflies, musical cockroaches to bendy spiders.
I’ve been to many different Cirque shows and have enjoyed them all but I admit that I face each new one a tiny bit skeptically about how they can possibly make it new, different and exciting. I expect the “same old, same old”. But every time, I am shocked and amazed by some new impossibly incredible feat which only Cirque Du Soleil could pull off with such beauty, grace and panache.
This particular installment of Cirque is the most family focused I have seen and is very suitable for young kids. There is a lot of silly humor that had the grown ups softly chuckling and the 5-ish year old boy behind me loudly guffawing, much to his mother’s embarrassment.
It is hard to pick which set was my favorite . The cocoon to butterfly act was simply breathtakingly beautiful. The ‘trampoliners’ are always hit with me and these jumpers walked vertically up a wall! It was incredible. My beau’s favorite act was from a group of six little ants performing a juggling/spinning routine with their feet. It was an awesome spectacle that can’t be put into words.
But ultimately I have to say my favorite act was the most perilous act was of the night; the tight rope walker, or rather, in this case the loose rope walker! I’ve never seen this done before anywhere – the rope was drooping like a skipping rope. Each step he took, each prop that got introduced I kept whispering aloud, “please don’t do it, please don’t do it,” it was scary incredible. My husband and I laughed in disbelief when we saw a unicycle handed to him; there was no way this could be possible. Then my husband said “Of course he’s going to bike on it, upside down and on his head! What else would you expect from Cirque Du Soleil?”
Cirque Du Soleil’s Ovo is running through October at the Stampede Grounds. If you have never seen a show before, this is a great opportunity to see what the all the fuss is about. If you are an experienced Cirque buff, this is a great chance to introduce your children to an amazing and uplifting new world.
