Bloomington
CURRENT
May 19, 2011 • V41.20
minnlocal.com
In the Community, With the Community, For the Community
Cirque du
Jefferson rocks track meet Page 32
75¢
MOCK CRASH
Soleil comes
to Bloomington
BY MIKE HANKS • SUN NEWSPAPERS It’s a circus unlike any other, and for its return to Minnesota, it will call Bloomington its home. Cirque du Soleil returns next week with “Ovo,” a touring show featuring acrobatic storytelling set to music and performed under a blue and yellow big top tent in the north parking lot at Mall of America. The Montreal-based theater group tours the world with arena and tent shows, finding its way to Minnesota about once every two years with a new big top production. Ovo has been in production since April 2009 and has a busy schedule that will keep its performers and crew on the road months beyond the four weekends and three weeks of performances in Bloomington. “There’s no end in sight yet,” according to Peter de Baaij, the tour manager for the production. Ovo, which means egg in Portuguese, explores a colorful ecosystem where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love. When a mysterious egg appears, the insects are awestruck and curious about the iconic object that represents the enigma and cycles of their lives. The production’s 54 performers, including nine musicians, will bring the story to life under the Cirque du Soleil big top nine times
Dressed to kill? Police officers, firefighters and paramedics demonstrate the ramifications of a post-prom car crash for Bloomington Jefferson High School students May 16. Students from the school’s Positive Forces for Change organization portrayed the victims of a two-vehicle crash, including senior Zach Roberts, who was fastened to a spinal board prior to being loaded into an ambulance. Senior Meg Willems was attended to by paramedics while she laid on the grass in front of her classmates. Junior Hannah Werth was the driver of one vehicle, and died at the scene. (Photos by Mike Hanks • Sun Newspapers)
FOR FURTHER COVERAGE OF THE EVENT, SEE PAGE 12
OVO: TO PAGE 15
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