From Nov. 19 to Nov. 22, the Zénith de Dijon will host the Cirque du Soleil production OVO, featuring Burgundian artist Kilian Mongey performing as a cricket, ICI reported.
Mongey spoke with ICI from Strasbourg just hours before taking the stage, isolating backstage during preparations for the evening performance.
For Mongey, the journey began in 2006 when his mother took him to see the Cirque du Soleil show Alegría in Paris. That experience sparked a childhood promise to reach that stage himself, leading him to intensive gymnastics training and the acrobatic discipline of tumbling.
“Je suis super excité. C’est toujours particulier de pouvoir faire des représentations en France,” Mongey told ICI.
Created in 2009 by Brazilian director Déborah Colker, OVO drops audiences into a bustling micro-colony of 50 insects. Mongey explained that the production operates much like lifting a stone to reveal the hidden daily lives of ants, spiders, and grasshoppers.
Adapting to insect behavior requires a rigorous three-month preparation program at Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal. “Ils vont nous apprendre à devenir un criquet, parce que ce n’est pas quelque chose de naturel. Donc on apprend à se maquiller, on apprend à comment agir sur scène pour ressembler à un criquet,” Mongey told ICI.
The production relies on an elaborate wardrobe featuring 300 custom costumes designed to accommodate the physical demands of every act. Four costume technicians travel with the troupe to maintain and repair costumes.
Mongey maintains three separate cricket costumes and also performs as a stick insect on stilts measuring between 1 meter and 1.20 meters high.
“Donc moi, par exemple, en tant que criquet, où je vais me servir vachement de mes jambes, parce que je fais un sport qui s’apparente au trampoline, qui s’appelle le tumbling, en fait, ça va être très demandant sur les chevilles, sur les genoux et sur le tendon d’Achille,” Mongey told ICI.
Playing in Dijon brings the performer back to his roots, with family members from Fontaine-Française attending the performances. “Je suis super chanceux, j’ai ma famille à Dijon,” he said.
“Donc j’ai bossé pendant 10 ans,” Mongey told ICI, detailing how he spent a decade taking dance and theater classes alongside his athletic training. “C’est ça mon message en général, c’est vraiment pas perdre espoir et vraiment pousser, parce que moi c’est ce que j’ai fait sur 10 ans afin d’accomplir mon rêve.”
Audiences can catch Mongey and the rest of the troupe on stage at the Zénith de Dijon from Nov. 19 to Nov. 22.
