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Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil has taken over the contemporary circus world, having mounted over 50 different shows across the globe throughout its 40-year lifespan.
This weekend, the troupe is taking over UBS Arena, bringing its touring tent show Ovo to the New York masses.
The production, which first debuted in Montreal in 2009, takes an in-depth look at the world of insects, with each one of the 52 performers on stage bringing a specific creature to life through outstanding movements and acrobatics. Just in case you missed it: "ovo" means "egg" in Portuguese, a name that echoes the very concept behind the whole program.
Time Out New York got a behind the scenes look at the show during a recent rehearsal—here are some interesting secrets we’re able to share from the experience:
1. Rehearsals are very quiet
Given the acrobatics and dangers involved in performing the sort of circus acts that Cirque du Soleil is now famous for, we expected rehearsals to be high-anxiety and loud affairs. That was far from reality.
Corentin Lemaître Auger and Maxime Charron, relative new additions to the Ovo family, were practicing their pretty astonishing trapeze act to utter silence. In the show, they are fleas and perform a dual spectacular that has been historically been performed by men-and-women duos and not two men.
More specifically, the pros were in the middle of a validation, as the team refers to these sorts of rehearsals. To put it simply, they are ways to get the performers acquainted with different stages given the touring nature of the show. Sound technicians, engineers and other staff members also use the time to “validate” their various skills across differing arenas.
2. Cirque du Soleil started as a group of street performers
Although the production company has now elevated the form, Cirque du Soleil was actually founded back in 1984 by former street performers Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix in Baie-Saint-Paul, a city in the province of Quebec. The troupe, originally called Les Échassiers, toured Quebec for years before the Canada Council for the Arts gave it a grant to perform as part of official celebrations. Today, the organization is a proper circus.
3. The Ovo team is like a giant village that travels together
Although not mounted in a tent but in actual arenas, Ovo is a traveling show that moves around the world as a massive production that includes hundreds of employees and twenty giant trucks filled with anything that the staff might need: from costumes to catering objects, lighting, makeshift dressing rooms, to-be-built gyms and even six washing machines.
What’s more, in each city, the production hires about a hundred local staff members to help set up each arena properly. In case you were wondering, it took twelve hours to built the stage at UBS Arena earlier this week.
4. The act of touring is more challenging than performing the actual acts
When asked about the difficulties involved in keeping their bodies in tip-top shape, Auger mentioned that, although the performers’ general rehearsal schedule is pretty strenuous, it’s their “home” that’s more of an issue.
“The hardest part is getting acquainted to the bed in the various hotel rooms,” he said. “The show stays pretty much the same but the bed you sleep on and where you live outside of work is always shifting. The pillow, for example, might be too fluffy and the bed too hard.”
5. There is an entire world behind the scenes of the show—including a gym
It should come as no surprise that, given the very essence of any Cirque du Soleil act, the performers should have easy access to a gym and exercise mats.
But it's even cooler than that: right behind the stage at UBS Arena, the company set up a mat outfitted with a trapeze and other gadgets that allow each and every act to warm up before show time but also work through validations and rehearsals in case the main stage is being used.
Fun fact: everything that’s done both behind the scenes and on the main stage is being recorded so that the pros can look through the clips while honing their crafts.
6. There are no understudies in Ovo
If a troupe member happens to be sick or can’t perform his or her act, the portion of the show that features them is actually removed from that day’s rundown.
There are no different versions of solo acts and there are no understudies because everyone is always on the show so, clearly, even a minor injury could make a big difference.
Massive group acts are a bit different as people are trained to take on different roles depending on the amount of folks available to perform on that day.
7. The performers get to explore the cities they are in and indulge in touristy stuff
While in New York this weekend, Auger and Charron went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and saw Hadestown on Broadway. How fun?
8. Makeup routines can take up to 90 minutes per performer
Although there are a number of makeup artists on staff, each performer actually gets to do his or her own makeup after being trained by the pros.
In Ovo, the ants seem to have the most straightforward look, one that requires a minimum amount of time—especially when compared to the fleas that need one-and-a-half-hour sessions in the chair.
9. Each costume is unique to the performer
A behind-the-scenes look at a Cirque du Soleil production make sone thing clear: the team pays a lot of attention to detail, especially when it comes to costumes. Most outfits are actually created at the Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal, where the company employs about 300 staff members.
Each costume is built from scratch for each act specifically according to measurements and needs. On
On the Ovo tour, there are four wardrobe technicians on hand full time, able to fix any issues, help the performers get ready and actually construct some portions of the outfits when need be. They even wash the costumes after each performance.
Fun fact: a staff member is specifically in charge of hats and accessories only!
10. There is a live band in the back!
Here is something a lot of people might not know: there is an actual band of musicians playing behind the scenes during each show.
Snag tickets to Ovo right here.