MANCHESTER, NH – The circus came to town Thursday and we were there for it!
Thanks to some finagling, phone calls and emails sent to the proper places, Manchester Ink Link Kid Reporter Little Bean landed a back stage tour of Cirque du Soleil’s latest show at SNHU Arena. Called OVO, or Portuguese for egg, our tour guide proudly let us know that this was the only Cirque du Soleil show about bugs!
Over the next few days, we’ll take you back stage, have a look at the performers going through their practice runs, get little tours of the costume room and let you know how the show itself was!
Taking its inspiration from the world of insects, creator and director Deborah Colker wanted the show to focus on the movement of life, with creatures crawling, leaping and flying. The show, which originated in 2009, features an enormous climbing wall towering over trampolines. The score is inspired by the music of Brazil.
OVO plays at SNHU Arena from today, Aug. 9 through Sunday, Aug. 11. We certainly encourage you to check it out here: OVO information about SNHU Arena show
For today, we wanted to feature a quick interview Little Bean gave to one of the performers, Kilian Mongey from France. She also had the chance to do some practice gymnastics with performer Wellington Lima from Brazil. The two took a break from their practice runs as climbing, tumbling crickets to talk to Little Bean.
The interviews took place on the floor of the arena with the towering, impressive backdrop of the insect-world stage set behind them.
She spoke first to Kilian Mongey.
Uma Szczesny (US): How long does it take you to learn all of the lessons and moves?
Kilian Mongey (KM): So, I started gymnastics when I was three years old and now I’m 30 so in total 27 years I’ve been perfecting my skill. I joined Cirque du Soleil when I was 21. So by then I knew all my tricks and all that but I keep on learning and practice them daily.
US: Where are you from?
KM: I’m from France but I’ve been touring with Cirque du Soleil for nine years.
US: Do you ever get nervous or anything during the show?
KM: Yes! Every night it’s a different show so as you saw when we do our tumbling passes, we always do something new so every night it’s a new challenge, a new audience, a new arena. You always get nervous and you need to be very focused. Otherwise, you can have real problems.
US: How did you become interested in this job?
KM: Well, I was maybe your age and my mom, she brought me to see Alegria from Cirque du Soleil when they were touring in Paris and from there I wanted to work here and it took me ten years before I had the chance. I took tumbling, dancing and theatre classes to improve my skills.
Coming up tomorrow: After Little Bean finished up with Kilian, Wellington Lima came over and gave her some gym routine lessons. We’ll have that story tomorrow. Stay with us!
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