Maxime Charron: Flying High in Cirque du Soleil's 'OVO'
"OVO" begins with an egg—a giant egg that breaks open to reveal the world of insects; but this being a Cirque du Soleil expect an army of red ants juggling kiwi fruit; a dragonfly balances on what appears to be a branch of a tropical plant; a butterfly emerges from a cocoon in sea of silk; and a pair of fleas performing an astonishing duo-trapeze routine. The show is, according to its press release, "a headlong rush into a colorful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy and movement. The insects' home is a world of biodiversity and beauty filled with noisy action and moments of quiet emotion."
Created and directed by Brazilian dancer/choreographer Deborah Colker (the first woman to create a Cirque du Soleil production), OVO ('egg' in Portuguese) joins Brazilian music, imaginatively rendered costumes, giant flowers and oversized spider webs, a stage-filling wall on which acrobats seemingly defy gravity; plus clowns, tumblers, jugglers, aerialists, live musicians, a sultry singer, and gravity-defying gymnasts (some 50 in all) into one of the troupe's most successful shows since premiering in 2009.
Like most Cirque shows, the plot can be summed up in a few words: an insect, blue fly called The Foreigner, loses an egg and seeks to find it, while trying to win the heart of a seductive (and very funny) ladybug. And while they speak, it is a language of their own beyond the audience's comprehension. The numerous songs in a variety of Brazilian styles, though, are sung in Portuguese.
"OVO" was a hit when it first toured under the Cirque's blue and yellow Grand Chapiteau; then in 2016, it became a touring arena show. But when the Pandemic brought the tour to a halt, Colker and the creative team (including Cirque's Director of Creation Chantal Tremblay and artistic director Lydia Harper) saw the opportunity to rework the show. A number of acts were retired and three new ones added, which include the trapeze duo of Maxime Charron and Corentin Lemaître Auger, who appear as red-and-yellow fleas in Liz Vandal's colorful body suits.
EDGE spoke with Maxine recently after he had been in Boston a full day. "What an amazing city," he said.
Just in his early 20s, Maxime has spent more than half-of-his life in training to be a trapeze artist. At 11, he enrolled at the National Circus School in Montreal. It was there he became friends with Corentin and they developed their act over a six-year period. (Corentin, it turns out, had decided to become a circus performer after seeing "OVO" at the age of eight.)
As the pair approached graduation, they were concerned if they could get hired by a circus troupe. First, the pandemic had shut the world down; but also their act was unusual amongst circus acts. "I don't know if you're familiar with the circus world, but duo trapeze acts are usually a guy and a girl," he said.
But the National Circus School sits across the street from Montreal's Cirque headquarters, and proximity is everything. "People from Cirque sometimes come across and do a little scouting. I think they're called 'scout outings," said Maxime. They saw us perform and were so lucky to get hired so soon after graduating from such a historic school. And that made us really happy."
How Maxime and Corentin became a team occurred early on in their National Circus School training. "During our high school program, I needed to choose my discipline. I felt very comfortable with Corentin. I wanted to be a flyer, and he was tall and strong, while I was small, so we made a match. But our fear was that Cirque would pass on us because we were two men. Trapeze duos are usually a man and a woman. So, okay, we thought, it wasn't going to happen, and we started thinking of other circuses in the world. Then we got the call. It really felt it came out of nowhere. A big surprise. It was amazing and we were happy. So happy."
That was in 2022. Maxime has been traveling with the show since and loves it. "Traveling is one of the reasons we do this job," he explains. "It can be challenging, because we go to so many places; but it has been great for me to visit all these places in Europe and the Middle East. It has given me a bigger picture of the world."
In the show Maxime and Corentin are fleas. "Very colorful fleas," Maxime adds. Their body suits are bold yellow and red accented with geometric lines and shapes, wings, and skull cap. "It's so much fun jumping around. You may think a bug is a bug is a bug, but every character in the show is different and has their own unique story. With us, it is fun and being joyful. I quite like it. Though when we started rehearsing with the costumes, we weren't used to the hats, so working with them was a big adaptation."
Once part of the Cirque team, the pair had to build a routine, which was, as Maxine puts it, "adapt our trapeze vocabulary to the world of OVO, which is all about bugs, and tell our own story. And to do so we worked with a team that included an artistic coach, and, of course, an acrobatic coach."
One of the most important aspects of being part of a trapeze duo is trust, which Maxine has built over his long relationship with Corentin. "You must build that connection with the partner to feel comfortable when doing the number. Of course, that takes practice, practice, and more practice. And you really need to trust our partner. Some people think that because two people do the same discipline, it is super easy to work with anyone. But that's not the case."
While Maxine is professionally paired with Corentin, in real-life his romantic partner is named Sacha Robillard and lives in Montreal. "We've been together for four years," Maxine explains. "We met through a friend, and chatted a lot on social media, then we went out for a drink. And that was it. It's great to have him on tour with me when it's possible, but we do spend long times separated, and that can be challenging as well.
"OVO" runs through July 28 at Agganis Arena, 925 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA. For more information. Follow this link."