Cirque du Soleil: Ovo

I confess: when I heard that the characters in the new show "Cirque du Soleil: Ovo" were bugs, I immediately assumed that it would be awful.

Insects?, I thought. Creepy crawlers? Really?

I have rarely been more wrong. This is a great show. It's the fourth Cirque du Soleil show that I have seen and by far the best.

But amateur entomologists should be forewarned: it has little to do with creatures possessed of exoskeletons. Indeed, if that is your determined interest, you might even do better to see the new Spiderman movie.

"Ovo" was directed by a team of Brazilians, and it's full of south of the border melodies: bossa nova complemented by Mexican rhythm. All this serves as musical accompaniment for its real theme, which is movement.

While the performers are attired in bright, skin-tight outfits that present them as an assortment of six-legged species -- butterflies, crickets, ants, beetles, fireflies, scarabs and many others -- what is being emphasized is their harmonious motion. And this is often spectacular.

That is shown right at the opening when a group of sexy female dancers dressed as ants appear with a group of giant drums that have been painted to look like kiwi fruits. To the audience's amazement, they then lie on their backs and begin using the huge drums for foot juggling.

Then, soon afterward, a husband and wife couple enter, dressed as butterflies. What they really are is astonishing aerialists.

"Ovo" includes the largest trapeze act that Cirque has ever put on, and it's a stunner. Included is a number in which a dancer goes from one side of the arena to another through a series of massive tosses. This is a reminder that "Ovo" started out as a big top show, and, while it's now being presented in arenas, it captures the delight that both children and adults feel for the big top. It's also the manifest reason why the Ringling Brothers show is closing up shop. They couldn't compete.

"Ovo" even has genuinely funny clowns: two men and a woman who appear in between the dazzling stunts with the males competing for the affections of the ladybug/clown.
Although these interludes are mostly slapstick, they're done with wit.

Yet the whole of the show is a wordless delight.

"Ovo" runs through July 9 at the Barclays Center on Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn. It will then continue through other assorted North American cities until September 17. For tickets and information, call 305-432-2068 or visit http://www.ticketmaster.com/Cirque-du-Soleil-OVO-tickets/artist/2183523.