Meet Your New Insect Overlords

The new millennium circus boom has made acrobatics sexy and the creators of Quebec's Cirque du Soleil extraordinarily wealthy. It's also brought about a once unlikely marriage between the big top and the theatre, so much so that the latest Cirque show to land on these shores is being steered by two female choreographers, Deborah Colker and Dutch born Marjon van Grunsven.

The show in question, OVO, is an intricate insectoid love story featuring more than 50 performers, many of whom have been trained to “dance like insects”. Indeed, artistic director van Grunsven declares that dance and circus are natural companions. “Dance, like acrobatics, starts in a very technical way,” she explains. “Y'know, you learn the steps, you learn the terms and you start to execute them, and then when you get really good at it you can start to explore and improvise. An acrobat will do his or her tricks just like a dancer would do a pirouette or any of their tricks.”

It is in the collision of physicality that the two disciplines coalesce; and under the blue and yellow grand chapiteau of Cirque du Soleil such pairings are not only possible but executed on a massive scale. While that clearly represents a choreographic challenge, working with acrobats unused to the more subtle exactness of dance turned out to be more liberating than limiting. “From a choreographic standpoint there is nothing more exciting than being able to work with bodies that can do more than you ever dreamt of being able to do yourself,” van Grunsven enthuses.

As always, Cirque delivers spectacle, technical perfection and considerable daring, particularly when it comes to the flying acts. Given that OVO is about insects, airborne athleticism is only to be expected. “So it's our task to get these acrobats to move and dance,” van Grunsven says, “but at the same time we get this extra gift of being able to incorporate their tricks into our choreography. This is fantastic.”

Meanwhile, down on the ground American performer Michelle Matlock is revelling in the show's lead role, Ladybug. Although OVO is undeniably 'cirque' it is also a love story. As Matlock says it, “The ladybug begins as this sort of lonely character in this community of insects. She's sort of waiting for her love to come and finally one day this city fly shows up with this incredible egg. So, it's like a bug meets bug story.”

Having toured North America and played to a staggering two million people, Ovo's Australian tour takes in five mainland capitols and runs for more than a year. With its trademark blend of circus trickery, big budget staging and family friendly thematics, the insects of OVO will surely pack out tents around the country.

However, Cirque du Soleil always tries to transcend its circus origins. “The overall theme of the show is love and you see that even within the circus acts,” Matlock explains. “The storyline weaves in between everything and makes it feel complete, so that you're not just going 'there's an amazing act, there's an amazing act'. It makes it a real full bodied show.”

From Marjon van Grunsven's perspective, OVO is far more than a well-choreographed circus. “We just wanted to do something with insects,” she says, “and perhaps renew for the audience a respect for the life of insects and for the earth.”