THANK GOODNESS we saw Ovo last weekend. I’ve had the privilege of seeing live Cirque du Soleil shows since 1992 (First: Saltimbanco), and after seeing the hot mess catastrophe that was Kooza, I was about ready to call an end to over a decade of Cirque admiration. Kooza sucked. It stank. It was the lamest, least interesting Cirque ever. I don’t even remember what the acts were, how the costumes looked, or what the music sounded like. And I pretty much always remember something.

Ovo redeemed CdS for me. All the displays of human bodies in movement were fantastic! The first act itself had me thinking, “Wow, they really rethought the classic circus act,” and each performance following outdid the one before it. Unless you have actually seen this show, you have never seen trampolines, Chinese yo-yo, or tightropes like this. I particularly wanted to sign up for a trampoline class after seeing Ovo. I would love to run up walls like a Jesus Christ lizard. (“Parkour!”)

Unfortunately, the music didn’t do it for me at all with Ovo. My favorite CdS soundtracks are Alegria (much to my family’s chagrin), Quidam, Saltimbanco – So Ovo could, in no way, have cut it. There wasn’t any funky vocal play and there wasn’t much spice to the music. I barely remembered that the live band was there. I’m not a diehard fan of intimate French cafe song, but I feel like all of Ovo missed that element to it. The gruff female voice downtrodden on life. I wonder if the bandmembers were aware that they had been relegated to background music status.

It’s like when Mary J. Blige got all happy and “Fine.” Good for you, Mary, but I like my Mary music sad.

I like my CdS music more unique and prominent in the show.

Otherwise, the visuals, the athleticism, the costume, the artistry – Yes. I didn’t even mind the somewhat awkward jungle fever undertones of the protagonist clown bugs. The faceless tube-y bug made up for it. Now if only they told us what was in the egg…