Just in time for summer: an infestation of frenetic, outrageously agile, acrobatic bugs at the XL Center.
A spider stands on his head, on a unicycle, riding along a slack rope. A firefly spins the diabolo (that large yo-yo-like object that gets bounced on a rope). Crickets dash pell-mell up a projection screen that turns out to be a sturdy climbing wall. Seven ants juggle barrels, with their feet, in tandem.
One reason to doubt that such feats are humanly possible is because the performers don’t look human. They are grasshoppers, butterflies, spiders, fleas, crickets…
The bugs balance, flip, fly, creep and crawl with extraordinary dexterity. There are also several comical creatures, in the best boisterous Italian commedia dell’arte tradition, who happen to be a fly, a scarab beetle and a ladybug.
Cirque du Soleil is known for its hyperstylized presentations, where the costumes are as spectacular as the circus routines. There are none of the shouty announcements (“Death-defying! For the first time ever!”) that one associates with American circuses.
The “Ovo” characters form their own insect community, where they slither in to observe each others’ acts, sing in French and converse in gibberish. The moody musical score (played live by an eight-piece band, as buggily attired as the other performers and fronted by an accordionist and fiddler) ranges from soothing new-age chords to pop balladry to an odd medley of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and “La Cucaracha.”
Cirque du Soleil has brought a few of its tent shows to the state over the past few decades. Those affairs let the company control every aspect of the presentation, including a venue that they construct themselves.
“Ovo” is one of the company’s touring arena shows. Some of these shows, such as the runway-staged “Delirium” (which played Bridgeport in 2006), are specially shaped and paced to allow for the different environment. But with its circular stage and shadowy lighting design, “Ovo” acts and feels like a Cirque tent show adapted for arenas. It swarms with supreme confidence and comfort.
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL’S “OVO” is at the XL Center, 1 Civic Center Plaza, Hartford, for performances through Sunday, June 19. Tickets are $46 to $150, $41.50 to $102.50 for students, seniors and the military. For tickets: 877-522-8499, xlcenter.com.
