After seven years, the world-famous Canadian circus, Cirque du Soleil, will return to Hungary, this time with their show Ovo in the MVM Dome. The production will be performed six times, and will also feature two Hungarian artists, Tamás Fülemen and Olívia Kapitány, reports Index.
In February, the world-famous Cirque du Soleil will be in Budapest for several performances. The Canadian company was founded in 1984 by a group of 20 performers. The Quebec-based company now has thousands of employees and performers from 50 countries. Cirque du Soleil’s popularity is demonstrated by the fact that it has performed in more than 400 cities on five continents to more than 160 million spectators.
The production Ovo (egg in English) will be performed six times in Budapest at the MVM Dome from February 8, 2024.
The touring company’s show will again feature impressive acrobatic feats, while offering an insight into a day in the life of insects.
Photo via Facebook/OVO – Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil includes two Hungarian artists who will be performing the Russian cradle in Ovo, finally giving them the opportunity to showcase their outstanding talents to a Hungarian audience, that has earned them the attention of one of the world’s most famous companies.
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In the Russian cradle, two bearers stand on a pole, back to back, with a man on each side of them. They throw the ladies, called flyers, between points six meters apart. The artists perform various somersaults and other movements as they fly.
The artists, Tamás Fülemen and Olívia Kapitány, gave an interview to Index about how they came to join the company.
“I was introduced to gymnastics when I was 6 or 7 years old, then I quickly switched to trampoline gymnastics and was a national team member for 4 or 5 years. Then it was time to change schools and I went to an artist school after primary school. That is where I first met Russian cradle, and I got my first taste of the catcher’s role back in 2016, Tamás Fülemen explained.
Then, from one moment to the next, the artist found himself in Cirque du Soleil.
“I finished working with my group in 2020, after the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo, and then the opportunity came up to audition for Cirque du Soleil in Budapest. (…) Then I received an invitation from Soleil, followed by a three-month training at the Cirque’s base,” he added.
Photo via Facebook/Olívia Kapitány
Like him, another Hungarian artist, Olívia Kapitány, started her career as a sportswoman and was a member of the Hungarian national team for many years.
“I started doing gymnastics when I was 6 and was a member of the national team. I had my eye on the Russian cradle as early as 2012. (…) Soleil had a workshop in Budapest in May 2021, I applied and was accepted, and Tamás helped me arrange a five-week training in Saudi Arabia in November 2022, where I was found suitable for this career and was accepted into the group. I have been working here ever since and have been a member of Ovo since February 2023,” she stressed.
For the Hungarian artists, who both come from the world of competitive sport, the circus and the performing world seemed like a sharp change at the beginning, but they find it much harder to perform as artists on a daily basis than in competition in a ritual.
Photo via Facebook/OVO – Cirque du Soleil
The question may arise: what is the key to Cirque du Soleil’s and Ovo‘s success? “The 100 members of the company come from 25 different countries and there are many different nationalities. There are 52 artists in the production (Ovo), and in our group there are Russians, Ukrainians, a Brazilian girl, Portuguese and Uruguayans. It is quite a colorful mix within the company, which definitely benefits the production,” Olívia Kapitány pointed out.
Tickets and further information about the show can be found here.
Via Index; Featured image via Facebook/OVO – Cirque du Soleil
