What it Takes To Be a Part of Cirque du Soleil’s OVO

What is up, guys? Leslie Robbins here for Young Hollywood, coming to you from the Microsoft Theater at L. A. Live, taking you behind the scenes of another Cirque du Soleil show. This one is called OVO, and I promise you, it's got all the acrobatics, stunts, flying, and flipping that you have come to know and love. Cirque du Soleil is back in Los Angeles. And the kind of cool thing is, you guys are in costume, full makeup. I normally don't get to do a behind-the-scenes when you guys are fully in character. This is so exciting.

This is really exciting for us to be here back in Los Angeles, so thank you for having us.

Of course. And you're here for a while. Not just a little pit stop, you guys have a residency here for five years. Talk to me about how that's different than the normal shows.

So, usually, Cirque du Soleil arena, like OVO is an arena, we move every city in every week. So, for us to be in one city for almost two months, it's incredible. Also, you, we are used to be in arena, and here, yeah, there's some bugs coming. You, and, and here, we are in a theater, in a beautiful theater, the Microsoft Theater. And we are so happy to finally have the chance to be in a theater again. So, yeah, five years residency. OVO is the first show to be here, so that's a, that's a big deal.

Now, Cirque du Soleil is going on what, 37 years now, and OVO was the 25th show created on the 25th anniversary of Cirque. So this is a really special production.

Yes. Yeah. It's special for us too.

Now, talk about, why is it so special?

Because there are so many. As we've been there, uh, since, since we do it in arena and smaller venues, we've been in the show and we did, we're part of the revamp and remastering the show. So, it's really, like, it's our little, little baby, we could say.

So how has it changed from big top to arena?

So, it changed a lot because, uh, when they bring back the the show to arena, they wanted some, some, uh, different acts to be bigger, because arena, it's a bigger scale, like this theater. It looks like kind of an arena here, it's a huge big top, let's say. And our act was on the big top. They, they brought us in arena to be, to have like a, an super dynamic aerial act. So, we were one of the the differences from the big top. But like, they changed the, they changed some acrobatics also, the the the costume, they changed a little bit of the music. The technical point of view also, because everything needs to be packed up in trucks, like, fast. They do the load out in like five hours. So everything needs to pack in, pack out, everything needs to be really like ergonomics and everything thought out.

Now, of course, you said the word acrobatics, and I have to be honest, I've done many Cirque du Soleil behind the scenes segments. I've done TOTEM, Volta, CRYSTAL, Michael Jackson, AVATAR, you name it. I'm always flippin' and flyin', hangin'. What is special about OVO? What are we gonna be doing in this show that maybe we haven't seen in others?

I think OVO, what, what, what I really like, and what is special about OVO, is like, it's a really show for everyone. Like, there's characters are super funny, the acrobatics is very high level, the costume are super bright colors. Even I get that, too. And we are insects, which we can relate, okay, this is really like two butterflies flying. This is like, oh, I really see the grasshopper, I really see the cricket, I really see the dragonfly. So, what I like, like the kids really like it, but the adults too, like, everybody likes to, to see the real insects going in. And also because it's in a very big environment, we are really like moving and interacting with each other as insects. We have like workshops and like, so you really, really see the characters on stage as insects. Yeah. And you now. So, he's gonna lay down on the floor.

Okay. So, this is how we learn the trick. Oh. Yeah. This is my floor, yes. And, Domini, can you help me, please? You're, you're, you're gonna jump, and you're gonna go on his head, and we're gonna hold you. What? One, two, three, and jump. What? And look at the camera. What is happening? Oh. And slowly down. One, one leg before the other. Yes. Give him a hand. What? You go on his, like this?

Yeah. You can, like this. Yes. So you can push down.

Yeah, so you can push down. Okay, yeah, perfect. Yeah. Okay, perfect. One foot here. And the other one will come here. Oh. Good. Okay. The other one? Yes, perfect. Do I have to re-stand up?

Just let go one hand, and then grab. And now you stre- your knees and you're very solid. Don't move anywhere. You don't have to do anything. Don't do anything. There you go. Just lean into my head.

Yeah, there you go. Oh my God! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! And take his hand back. One. One foot after the other in the front. Right, first? Yeah. And, yes! How is it to be higher? High. Yeah. High. It's an actual high. Perfect. It feels like skydiving. I just trusted you with my life.

Exactly. That's what we do every night. I trust him with my life every night.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Thank you so much. That was amazing. So, Mr. Black Spider, you showed up and you all of a sudden did this. So, I feel like I have to copy you. Of course. Yeah. Your character's pretty, uh, pretty rock solid. Second guest: Yeah. So, my character is the Black Spider character. There's three spiders in the show. The Black Spider is a little bit more edgy. Um, the the White Spider is more elegant and the Red Spider has a lot of energy. So, we wanted to contrast it with the Black Spider being very edgy, uh, dangerous, kind of evil and some mysterious way. So, uh, it's fun for me to play. But yeah, so naturally I go into my character quick.

So now you're playing the Black Spider. Now, this is not your first Cirque show. Second guest: No, it's my second show now with Cirque du Soleil. Uh, the first one before has finished, and now they've taken me on with OVO. So, in the show I play the acrobatic character Black Spider, but I also have a solo aerial hoop number. Yeah.

So, talk about the preparation to get to the performance. Second guest: Well, a lot of us have been training since we were young. Um, I started Cirque around 10 years old. Since then I've been doing dance, acrobatics, aerials, uh, I went to circus school. And then I left circus school and joined Cirque du Soleil pretty quick, and I've been touring now for about five years. Um, so there's a lot of preparation, management of, uh, energy, strength, conditioning, flexibility. So, it's all encompassing. Yeah.

How do you guys get your bodies to be that flexible? Because you guys are very bendy and can do things that is unimaginable. Second guest: It takes a lot of time. Um, I've been stretching since I was very young at five when I started ballet. Uh, and since then it's just an everyday thing. So, every day you push a little bit more, but we've been doing it for so long that it's like brushing our teeth for us.

Now, let's, let's stretch, because whatever you're gonna have me do, which is gonna be evil and dark and mean, I can tell, let's get our bodies ready. Second guest: Okay. Sure. So, something I usually do to warm up is obviously squats. So, just simple simple squats to help move the hips. Then you can kind of go side-by-side, grabbing the knees. Slowly working, holding it down here. Switching over to the other side. I mean, this is the quick version. Sometimes this can take an hour. Yeah. So, it's a lot of, uh, time management as well. But for this day, we'll try this. And, uh, so, in the show we can do a few larger ones like this. Yeah. Yeah.

I used to be able to do that. Yes. Yeah. So, in the show we can do a few larger ones like this. You got it. Yeah. Yeah. Now, of course you said the word acrobatics, and I have to be honest, I've done many Cirque du Soleil behind the scenes segments. I've done TOTEM, Volta, CRYSTAL, Michael Jackson, AVATAR, you name it. I'm always flippin' and flyin', hangin'. What is special about OVO? What are we gonna be doing in this show that maybe we haven't seen in others? Yeah. I used to be able to do that. Second guest: And then we can come down and do a forward fold.

You got it. Yeah. That's amazing. There we go. I love this. What else you got? Second guest: Yeah. And now straddle. And then we'll tilt to one side.

No. And take one hand. Yeah. Great. And then release and come back down. Perfect. Dominic, that was really hard to balance on one arm. Second guest: Yeah. It's a, it's a difficult skill, and a lot of us it takes a long time to get. Uh, there's a lot of little muscles, stabilizing muscles, core work, flexibility that is all involved in doing a a trick like that.

I love this. What else you got? Second guest: Okay, let's do a backbend. So, you reach your hands up. You'll look at your fingers the whole way back. Tilt back. I'll grab your back, and lower your hands to the floor into the backbend.

It has been a minute since I've done that. Let's see. Okay. So, come here. Hands up looking at your fingers the whole time. And back we go. Look at your fingers. Reach, reach, reach. Nice.

Now, what do I do? Now, let's try a walkover. So, you're going to kick one leg up. Nice. Great. And then release and come back down. Nice. Okay. So, Dominic, that was really hard to balance on one arm.

Yeah. It's a, it's a difficult skill, and a lot of us it takes a long time to get. Uh, there's a lot of little muscles, stabilizing muscles, core work, flexibility that is all involved in doing a a trick like that.

Awesome. Great. Thanks. Thank you. So, standing next to a dragonfly and two spiders, I feel like I need to strike a pose. Is this right? How am I doing on the pose?

You're doing good. You're doing good. Absolutely, it's great.

Yeah. So, standing next to a dragonfly and two spiders, I feel like I need to strike a pose. Second guest: Some detail into the fingers, shoulders down, chin up. There you go, perfect. A little bit more like evil eyes. And the facial expressions. Yes. Looking through. Yes. That's it.

Okay, you guys are here. I have to say it's been almost two years since we've seen a Cirque show in L. A. COVID, get out of the way. We have shows to do. We're back. You guys must be just as excited as this audience is gonna be.

We really are. It is an honor to be back on tour. We're one of the first Cirque du Soleil shows that's up and running in general. We're the first Cirque du Soleil arena show that is running. And now we have the pleasure of being the first Cirque du Soleil show in the Microsoft Theater. Second guest: Yes, it's so exciting. We are so grateful to be back after this big, long, two years. We are so keen to be back doing what we love. And yeah, we just wanna bring some joy and some energy, crazy acrobatics into the Microsoft Theater.

So, I have to ask, obviously, during this time when there weren't shows, everyone was working out at home, stretching at home. But this is your craft. This is your instrument. How did you guys keep this all fine tuned? Because your bodies are what you do for a living.

So, we're all at Cirque because we love to stay active and train and push ourselves forward. So, very quickly, all of us found an outlet, some kind of way to keep training, to keep creating, because we, we need that. That's how we got to Cirque is we, we push and we work hard every day. So, we, we're able to to work on things back home. And once we all came back together, of course, we had to regroup and make sure everybody was, uh, ready to go on tour. But because we had so much drive to stay fit over the break, that all came together really nicely, and we're just so excited to be back on the road. Second guest: And just like everyone doing Zoom meetings for work, we were doing Zoom meeting ab workouts and training together and we were communicating just like everyone else. And when you're a contortionist, you don't need a big space. You can just have like a little corner of the room, and that's it, you're set. It don't take much space really to train myself.

So, as professional athletes, performers, how did you keep your mental game strong during that time, just knowing that it will eventually end and you will be on a stage soon?

I think that honestly, more than the physical, that was the real challenge. Um, we really leaned on each other and I have a lot of friends that developed new businesses, new ideas to do online shows. We really just tried to stay in communication and keep the spirit up. And as gyms began to open, we tried to congregate in the same places just to share some physical proximity and energy with each other to keep the spirit alive. Second guest: Absolutely. And I focused a little bit more on the coaching online. So, it was nice to transmit my experience and knowledge to the other people, the coming up generation as well. So, they were really, really interested and I was very welcome to the online Zoom classes and doing contortion handstands. So, that was a good way to keep it up my mental health and said I'm useful in in some way, you know.

Ooh, we can do a little bit of contortion. Have you ever done contortion? Have you ever done handstands? Have you ever Second guest: A few, I've bounced around a few different spots here, maybe a little bit. I'm just going to also teach you how to be a bug, because we are bugs. Exactly. So, we'll teach you the skills and how to be artistic in the skills.

Okay, let's do it. Let's do it. Okay. Yeah. Who's, how are we starting? Second guest: All right. Do you wanna start with a stretch? Shall we start with a stretch?

Let's start with a stretch. Second guest: How is your splits usually?

They used to be great. Second guest: All right. Let's just go into a big, big lunge and see how that goes. Ooh, that's perfect. So, all I need from you is to start straightening up slowly the front leg and sliding forward.

Famous last words. That's all I need from you. Second guest: That's all I need from you. Very good. That's it. Once you hit your maximum, just hold there. Perfect. And that's perfect. Okay. And push yourself up, and we do the same thing on the other side.

Okay. Gotta get both sides. Are we stretching or this is the thing? Second guest: We're stretching first. Oh, this is the stretch. We're stretching first. Just the stretch. Yeah, we're gonna do a little bit of wheel pose afterwards. So, same thing. Straighten up the front leg and start sliding down until you hit your maximum. That's it. That's it. Hold like into three seconds. One, two, three. And come out slowly. All right, have you ever done a bridge before?

Yeah. Yes. Second guest: All right. Do you usually the ones that actually lay down and push yourself up, or actually you go from standing? How do you get into your bridge?

I can do both. I think I need help. We're going in from behind, perfect. Let's do that. Which one's harder? Second guest: It doesn't matter. Uh, the only thing is that if you do it from the floor, I would suggest you to change to the rotational ones. Ooh. So, this way you start working your shoulder mobility as well. Ooh. Yeah. But if you do it from the standing, I want you to think about bringing your booty out a little bit and give a nice extension and start. Aim in the floor. That's beautiful. She makes it look easy, huh?

I was just gonna, that's gorgeous. Second guest: There we go. Because most of the people go like this and then they just flop themselves to the bridge.

Yes, we do. Second guest: And it's not really attractive. Right? So, we must go.

Oh, you want me to look good too? Second guest: Of course, that's your whole program.

I'll try. Second guest: All right, so, shall we try? I'm gonna be spotting you. So, you can really do a nice, big arch. Yes, straighten up your arms. Booty out, open up your legs. Booty out, hips up. There we go. And start going lower, lower. Nice one. Breathe in. Stay there, holding for three, two, one. When whenever you're ready. Beautiful. Got it. Okay. Sorry, I pulled your hair a little bit. That's okay. Good. Okay. Good. All right. So, a little bit of step up to the handstand. We're gonna do a forearm stand. Is that okay? This is something that you're familiar with?

Sure, let's do it. Second guest: Yeah. So, this is very easy. You're gonna just start with the pike position. And all you need to do, lift it up. And you're gonna give a little hop up, and just hold there. Ooh. All right. Ooh. And you can do walk. And you can do mini poses.

I can't do that. Second guest: You can vary it afterwards. I'll try. But the most important thing, you want to have your elbows shoulder width, and then your hand at somehow like a sort of triangle. Okay. Okay. Cool. Okay. Here we go. What are we doing? Okay. Put your elbows on the floor. Keep looking at your fingertips. Yes. Close your elbows a little bit. There we go. Look at your fingertips. Straighten up your knees into a pike pose. There we go. One leg up for me. There we go. And you're gonna hop up. Stay there for me. Open up your splits to look more artistic. Nice. You can bend your knees to look more like, there we go. This one as well. Yes. Can I put the left foot forward? And. We're gonna go. And then go down. One leg down. That's it. Yes. We're gonna go. Oh my God. Well done. Gotta keep breathing, otherwise all that blood is gonna stay in your head. And up. Yes! Perfect. Now, you wanna arch with your back? So, you do a contortion. Look up. You can look up at the camera. There we go. Bend your knees a little. There we go. Yes. There it is. It's coming. And we're gonna kick that out and pick whichever leg you wanna put down on the floor. How did you feel? Well done. Do you wanna join us on stage? We can do a trio.

Your fingertips have details. And because we're bugs, we're gonna break all of our angles here. The wrist, the elbow, the shoulder. Excellent. We're gonna keep those angles moving. Nice. Some sharp accents here and there. Good. And last, we're gonna add a head. Once in a while you're gonna lead with the top of your head into an S-figure. Excellent. Very nice.

I think I'm gonna be a snake in the '80s, I think, right?

Exactly. Yes. Just a little bit. That's it. I think you're ready for the show.

I am. What part can I play?

Ooh, we need to find you an insect. Ooh, what's you like? Which kind of insect do you like?

How about a ladybug?

Oh, a ladybug. We have that costume for you. You're gonna be the lead in the show. You're gonna lead the whole show then. No pressure. No pressure. It is miked, and you're speaking in invented language. Yes. She speaks in gibberish. Gibberish. Ladybug. Watch out. Every muscle is gonna hurt tomorrow. For sure. Oh my God.