Flight of fancy with Cirque du Soleil

The last day of school ended on a high for Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts year 12 students Alix Risi and Jasmin Cox yesterday as they rode in a Cirque du Soleil hot air balloon.

Before their ride,  Maddison Todman jumped for joy as she and other year 12 students watched the spectacular balloon being inflated.

Created in the shape of a giant floating egg – to represent the latest Cirque du Soleil circus production Ovo, which is Portuguese for egg – the balloon features a towering image of the show’s roly-poly ladybug character.

In typical Cirque du Soleil style Ovo takes its audience into a surreal insect world teeming with life where flexible spiders, juggling ants and a nervous, comical blue fly flutter and play, then try to come to terms with a mysterious egg that is brought into their magical land.

With a combination of funny songs, audacious acrobatics and jaw-dropping aerial feats, Ovo is playing at  Moore Park in Sydney until November 4.