"Ovo" is the new touring production by Cirque du Soleil.
In her native Brazil, Deborah Colker is a widely acclaimed choreographer with a long-established dance company, Companhia de Danca Deborah Colker. But Colker is also the director of Cirque du Soleil's touring tent show, “Ovo,” which opens Wednesday in Parking Lot K, next to the United Center on Chicago's Near West Side. It'll be in Chicago all summer.
Q: So you just arrived in Chicago from Brazil?
A: I love this city. This is my first time here and it's really a great surprise. Nobody knows how is Chicago. It's a little like New York, but nicer, cleaner. Really, I didn't know. I expected to see Don Corleone.
Q: Your show is about insects. Why insects?
A: At my first meeting with Guy Laliberte (Cirque's CEO), he told me he wanted to have a show about nature and biodiversity. I asked if it must be political and he said, “No, it's an artistic show.” So I had this idea to do a show about insects.
Q: They don't get much respect.
A: No. If we see an ant we stomp on it. Butterflies we respect. But insects are so small and so important. They are part of our world all the time.
Q: How do they translate into a show?
A: Well, for example, I wanted to find a relationship between acrobats and insects. How they fly. How they run. Insects have six legs or eight legs, and it's the same with the acrobats. They have more legs than usual people. And then, as well as the movement, there is the personality of the insects. Some can be nice and beautiful. Some can be horrible and dangerous. I wanted to put a lens in their small world.