Backstage at Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Ovo’ in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The touring show, Cirque Du Soleil, “Ovo” is now showing in New Orleans.

WGNO’s Kenny Lopez got the chance to go backstage at the Smoothie King Center to find out all that goes into putting on this enchanting show.

“Ovo” means egg in Portuguese. The show follows a colorful colony of insects as a new insect arrives in their colony.

The show consists of high-flying acrobatics.

“We bring to life this colony of acrobatic insects. We have world class acrobats. We have a seven piece band with live musicians that will play according to what’s happening on stage. We’ve got group acts in the air, on the ground, just a little bit of everything,” Janie Mallet, Senior Publicist for Cirque Du Soleil’s “Ovo” said.

Olympic athlete, Nansy Damianova, an aerial flyer, is part of the show.

“I competed in 2009 Bejing Olympics for Canada in artistic gymnastics,” Damianova said.

Cirque du Soleil’s enchanting show about insects, ‘Ovo,’ coming to New Orleans

In “Ovo,” she flies six meters between each platform.

“So we get to do acrobatics from side to other. We are thrown and caught by our hands or feet. Gives me the feeling of flying. We perform, we show what we have, and it’s nice to see people react to it, ” Damianova said.

Cirque Du Soleil is also known for it’s beautiful costumes.

“We have over 800 pieces of costumes in each performance,” Mallet said.

“Our costumes include special legs and we have special shoes that are customized and this helps us have a good grip on the walls,” Wellington Lima, Trampoline wall artist in Cirque Du Soleil’s “Ovo” said.

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“We do a circus and offer shows without animals, only with the humans imagination and talent and pushing the human boundaries. Just having this adventure two hours into the ecosystem of “Ovo” and having a good time,” Mallet said.

This is the first time “Ovo” will be in New Orleans, but it has been entertaining crowds around the world for 16 years.

Over the years there have been about 4,000 performances of “Ovo” worldwide.

“Ovo” runs through Sept. 21 at Smoothie King Center. For tickets.

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