From the moment I saw Dralion, almost ten years ago, I’ve been a fan of the French Performance art group Cirque Du Soleil. When people ask me to describe the almost indescribable I always say it’s simply the Circus for pretentious people. We have high wire people, tumblers, jugglers, clowns, and people who can do absolutely amazing things with their bodies all dressed up with beautiful colors, costume, and gorgeous music. But it is a circus without Cotton Candy or the smell of elephants. After a very long break from performing in this area, their first DC area show in years, Ovo is an odd duck.
Usually every Cirque show has a theme, their most famous show; O (a Vegas Exclusive) is a beautiful show where the entire stage is this gorgeous innovative pool set that features moving parts, fountains, and more. Ovo means Egg in Portuguese. The setting here is the world of Insects and centers around the circle of life from the opening scenes of birth to the celebration of life at the end and all the things in between.
There’s a bit of a story between the show’s MC’s (for lack of a better term) – there’s The LadyBug, The Foreigner, and the main show master – Master Flipio, they serve as the show’s comic relief in between the major set pieces. There’s a little love action between The Foreigner and LadyBug. These three turned me off from the beginning and the show felt like it came to a screeching halt whenever they appeared. There was one long break with these three that seemed to go on forever.
When these three weren’t on, the vibrant colors, music and deft defying stunts are combined to create an amazing spectacle. Highlights included Orvalho a character who did one of the most incredible hand balancing acts that you’ll ever see. This was followed up by a fun bit called Ants which was a tumbling act featuring a group of pixie like girls dressed in red costumes who played with this weird looking green ball that represented their food.
Another spectacular moment included a fabulous high wire act that showed a woman becoming a butterfly and mating with a partner doing a beautiful high wire dance with each other. It’s almost worth the price of admission to see these three sequences alone, but the two hour show is filled with lots of sights and sound.
The music for this show reminded me of my Caribbean Cruise, it’s the sound of the French Rivera – or at least how I would imagine that sound to be. I didn’t think this soundtrack was as strong as Dralion or Alegria, it’s on par with ‘O’. It’s fine but not as memorable or consistent as the other two.
Cirque managed to even incorporate this weird Slinky act. Part Slinky, part insect, the Creatura danced to a tune that was all his own. The way his body bended, twisted, and stretched was truly freaky. It was the upbeat music that accompanied this routine that really brought the sequence together and that’s what a Cirque show is about – spectacle and whimsy.
Cirque Du Soleil Ovo is currently playing in Washington, DC Under the Grand Chapiteau at The Plateau at National Harbor until October 24th. After that the show opens in Atlanta, November 4th, and the Dallas, TX area in January. Ever since Cirque took over Vegas (they have 4 shows there now), they rarely tour the US so if you get a chance to see them, don’t turn it down.
Final Grade B
EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria
Originally posted 10.10.2010