LOOK ING FLY
Cirque du Soleil artists weave web of fascination in ‘Ovo’
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — “Ovo,” the Cirque du Soleil show that plays the Agganis Arena on Sept. 6-10, means “egg” in Portuguese.
And yes, there is a large white egg in this show whose theme is insects in which performers juggle, leap, fly and bend as ants, cockroaches, butterflies, a ladybug, flies, crickets and spiders.
Kyle Cragle, 21, who offers a spellbinding display of muscularity and contortions as a Dragonfly, will celebrate his first anniversary in Boston.
“I've been with Cirque since last September,” the 5-foot-9 Houston native said after a warmup that had his body positioned on a beam with his legs split, held up by just one arm.
“Where my butt is touching my head, you do get sore. I'm literally sitting on my head! But my body is also supernaturally flexible so I was built for contortion.”
How do you begin to train for something like that?
“I started competing in gymnastics when I was 7 at summer camp.”
Displaying “some very basic acrobatics like a split,” Cragle was immediately seen by the men's team coach.
“He had me do pushups and pullups and the next day I was on the competition team. I learned I was acrobatically inclined. It was something I just started to pick up really quickly. And once I found circus, it was a done deal.”
Catherine Audy, 27, shines as a female Butterfly, half of an astounding aerial act as she hangs from a rope with her longtime partner, Alexis Trudel.
“We did Circus School of Quebec together,” Audy said smiling, “and graduated in 2012. The duet we created for this edition of `Ovo.' It's a love story but we're really good actors since we're only a couple onstage.”
A male and female Butterfly “works well with the apparatus. It's very fluid and romantic,” she said, adding, “We're really into our characters. I feel like a butterfly when I'm doing my act.”
High above the floor, Audy is held only by a strap, which can hurt her arm. “You can see blood here,” she said pointing, “but I'm used to it — that's a normal thing with straps.
“Alexis will hold the strap with one hand and my ankle by the other hand, so there's really danger in the act too. So it's a good one.”
Cirque du Soleil at the Agganis Arena, Sept. 6-10; cirquedusoleil.com.