Life With Ferris: Cirque Du Soleil

Years ago, about 30 of them exactly, I heard the Cirque du Soleil was coming to Atlanta. My sister was game, and we loaded up our children, six between us, and drove to the ATL. We stayed in a hotel, all eight of us, which is a story in itself, but the highpoint was the Cirque du Soleil, which had been on my bucket list ever since I first learned of this organization.

In the early 80s, a group of less than two dozen street performers in Quebec, Canada, dressed in colorful garb and roamed the streets, captivating onlookers by breathing fire, juggling, dancing and playing music. Often, they did some if not all of the above activities on stilts! The dream was big: to create a Quebec circus and take it all over the world. Shortly after this dream was whispered among the performers, is just so happened Quebec City needed a fabulous show to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the county’s discovery by Jacque Cartier. And Guy Laliberte proposed a show, Circus of the Sun, and Cirque du Soleil hasn’t stopped since.

Seventy-three people made that first production a success. Now, 40 years later, there are 4,000 employees worldwide, including 1,300 artists representing 50 nationalities and speaking 25 different languages. The company routinely produces close to 20 simultaneous shows around the world.

The Cirque du Soleil is impressive, to say the least. The show that came to Chattanooga is Ovo, and it’s all-things-bugs. But let me tell you, you will never look at insects again after seeing them portrayed in this performance. I saw this show around 10 years ago, when Cirque du Soleil came to Chattanooga for the first time, and I got to see Ovo again last month! It was different, with three new acts and new characters, and trust me when I say I would see it all over again tomorrow!

In this show, a magnificent ladybug captures the eye of an awkward, unusual insect that is a newcomer to the plot of nature jam-packed with all manner of creatures that will be familiar after a few moves. For example, the artist winding his way around the tendrils of an elegant plant, hovering his entire body weight one hand, does not look like a man. Humans can’t do that – at least not effortlessly. After only seconds you recognize a dragonfly, but what is amazing is that his feat looked nothing like an actual feat. There was no huffing and puffing and straining; this performance was graceful, fluid … more like a dance than any impossible act of strength and balance.

I remember my favorite part was the butterfly. Or the cocoon, rather. High in the air, swathed in white, arms stretched out and leg pushing down gracefully, the artist mesmerized everyone as she finally emerged, displaying wings from 30 feet in the air that fell in brilliant colors behind her. Wow.

Actually, the cocoon was my favorite part until two butterflies performed a breathtaking ballet in the air. Like, literally way up high. Contortions and swoops and flying together and apart, all the daring moves were executed in perfect unison, building tension and captivating the audience.

Really, every single act was my absolute new favorite … until the next act. From the spiders that moved sensuously, folding and unfolding in ways that made me doubt they had bones, to the crickets that defied both gravity and physics as they bounded straight up an 8-foot wall to the scarabs that soared high in the air, leaping and diving and spinning, all in a perfect mindboggling unison, missing each other in midair by a mere six meters. Incredible.

Just remembering the Cirque du Soleil excites me! Over 155 million spectators have seen a Cirque du Soleil show since its inception. Yes, I’ve seen the same show twice now. And no, I don’t regret it for a second. Yes, I want to see all 20-plus shows and am adding that to my bucket list. Keep up at cirquedusoleil.com/ovo.

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Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series “If Bugs Are Banished.” “Making Arrangements” is her first novel. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.