Cirque du Soleil begins 'Ovo' European tour in Tarragona on Thursday

The Tarraco Arena in Tarragona will host the start of the European tour of the Cirque du Soleil show 'Ovo' from Thursday to Sunday.

Attendees will be transported to the insect world with the help of 53 artists complemented by live music.

'Ovo' - which means egg in Portuguese - is inspired by the colors and nature of Brazil. It premiered in 2009 but in the last year it has been renewed with new numbers.

In the past two weeks, the Canadian company has been finalizing preparations and rehearsing in Tarragona, with a large media deployment consisting of a hundred workers of 25 nationalities who will be moving around the continent in 21 trucks.

The Canadian company's tour will last more than a year, travelling across Portugal, England, France, Italy, Slovenia and Romania, among other countries.

In Tarragona, they will do six sessions in four days, with a double feature on Saturday and Sunday.

The last-minute preparations are being used to fine-tune the acrobatics and the set-up. "It's like a traveling village; every week we are in a different city or country, so we always have to carry everything on our backs," explained Janie Mallet, publicist for Ovo.

To help the group set up the stage and transport the material and costumes, the company hires around 100 people in each city where they perform. The dismantling and loading onto the trucks takes three hours.

Five people are responsible for checking all the costumes that have been custom-made in Canada for each of the artists every day. "They inspect them, wash them, and make any necessary repairs so they always look perfect," Mallet explained. "The costumes must be beautiful but also functional so that the artists can do their acrobatics and impress the audience," she added.

The Cirque du Soleil troupe brings six washing machines and three dryers to do the laundry.

For the artists, there is a high level of demand to be part of the group. "They invited me to train, but I never would have imagined that it would be possible to get in," said Lola Pintos, a 23-year-old Argentine gymnast who has been with the company for a year and a half.

In her case, she had to do a three-month training course to delve into the artistic side of the shows. "Being an athlete is very different to being an artist," she said.

During this time, she had to learn dance and theater. "I've also learned English, which was very difficult for me, and I've been able to get to know new cultures and travel around the world. Until now, I had never been to Europe, that was unimaginable for me," she said.

Tickets for the two-hour show are available from €84 on Cirque du Soleil's website.