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I dressed up as a giant cricket to fly through the air with the stars of Cirque du Soleil

Ever wondered what it takes to become one of the stars of Cirque du Soleil? Just ask Daily Star action correspondent Julia Kuttner

[Julia Kuttner visits Cirque Du Soleil in London]

Testing the theory of I could do that felt particularly ambitious when it came to acrobatics. After years of expertly swerving team sports and anything involving coordination, I decided it was time to confront a new challenge.

Traditionally, New Years resolutions revolve around denial giving things up. But this year, I decided to do the opposite. I vowed to start saying yes a lot more.

Yes to swinging through the air on straps like an acrobat.

Yes to training with Cirque du Soleil performers.

And, unexpectedly, yes to wearing green.

That last one turned out to be far tougher than anticipated. Becoming a slightly bewildered, vividly green cricket was a lot more challenging than the idea of flying through the air.

[Julia shows off her new look]

Julia shows off her new look(Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

The acrobatics? Easy. Well, relatively speaking. Because who wouldnt want to be poured into a flamboyant costume, paint their face a pukey shade of yellow, and learn from the very best including a Great Britain gold-medallist tumbling and trampoline champion?

Walking up to the Royal Albert Hall in swanky Kensington, it begins to sink in what Ive actually said yes to. So many big names have performed here spectacular Cirque shows, rock stars, the Proms, even wrestling.

I stifle a laugh, remembering that this isnt technically my debut. I sang here decades ago as part of a very inclusive school choir. I wonder how many people get to perform here twice in such wildly different guises.

Inside, the Albert Hall stage is lit for rehearsals. Acrobats including young British world champion tumbler Ramarni Levena, 20 are tearing across the circular stage at astonishing speed, spinning mid-air as if gravity doesnt apply to them.

Lets just say if I can go from zero to that in the next few hours, Ill be delighted. At this stage, everyone is still in sports training gear, a long way from the spectacular production Ive previously enjoyed from a plush seat in the stalls.

Ramarni is one of many exceptional British gymnasts now performing with Cirque du Soleil, alongside European, World and Olympic champions from across the globe. Working for Cirque du Soleil is a dream, he tells me. You grow up watching it, and suddenly youre part of it performing in front of thousands of people.

Once hes finished a training run, Ramarni arrives with a big smile and a bag full of makeup and brushes. He tells me he can perfect the yellow-green cricket face in about 15 minutes.

For a novice cricket like me, it takes a little longer and some fairly firm instructions. I copy what hes doing as best I can while he helps add the dark splashes and splodges around my eyes.

Its messy, but I really like it. Even without the full costume, I already feel completely in character.

[Julia gets her make-up done by an expert]

Julia gets her make-up done by an expert(Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

The slimy, acid-green handmade cricket outfit is still hanging over a chair, practically glaring at me. Ive stopped asking for the beautiful red fire-ant costume and accepted my fate.

Getting into it is more complicated than expected: a two-part body suit, a two-part headpiece, and a lot of wriggling. With help from assistants and show executives, the transformation is finally complete finished off with shoes, which almost immediately have to come off again because its time for aerial straps and flying.

The suit has to be rigid yet flexible, with room to expand, and each one is handmade, taking around 75 hours to produce. Its really technical, and if I hadnt had help, I think Id look more like a Brussels sprout than a cricket.

Training takes place deep in the bowels of the Royal Albert Hall, where the production has built a fully equipped gym for the two-month run. This is where everyone works out every single day.

Ramarni tells me the only day he didnt train last year was Christmas Day, when his mum visited him in Lisbon, Portugal and even then, he still performed a show that night.

This is where I attempt everything at once: flying on straps, spinning, and foot juggling. The acrobats practise for hours every day, and it shows.

Watching them juggle kiwi slices on their feet with effortless precision is mesmerising. I, meanwhile, start firmly at the bottom of the game but quickly I am pretty much hooked.

[Julia juggles giant kiwi slices with her feet - surprisingly well!]

Julia juggles giant kiwi slices with her feet - surprisingly well!(Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

I absolutely love flying attached to the straps, though I am a bit bamboozled when told to twist and spin. Turns out they dont mean a full 360 somersault mid-air. I just need to swing around while hanging like a pendulum and its pure fun.

Once I get the hang of it, I feel weightless, buzzing, and strangely calm, even while dressed like a cricket.

Next up is foot juggling, using giant kiwi fruit. I watch the experts, a team of incredible Chinese gymnasts, thinking surely it cant be too hard.

Im wrong about that but I give it my best, copying the moves of the European, World and Olympic champions. Seeing them juggle with such precision seems even more jaw-dropping now.

The experts tell me Im doing well far better than expected. I dont know how low that bar was set, but my pride has reached a new level. My big green, nylon-clad head swells with awe as I try to keep up, toes flailing, fruit bouncing everywhere.

These creepy crawlies buzzing, tumbling and flying are among the stars of the OVO production now at the Royal Albert Hall. The London show is in the capable hands of British acrobat Lydia Harper, one of Cirques youngest artistic directors at just 33.

Before stepping into the role, Lydia specialised in Chinese pole and rope work. She joined Cirque du Soleil in 2015 as an acrobat and aerial coach, became assistant director on Alegria in 2023, and now leads OVO.

Id never even thought about acrobatics or gymnastics until my granny took me to one of the Cirque du Soleil shows for my 13th birthday and that was it, Lydia says.

My parents said if I could get into circus school, theyd let me. From that spark, a world of flips, spins and colour opened up and now shes passing that experience on to a new generation of performers.

The OVO production is a buzzing adventure, taking audiences through a day in the life of an insect colony. Inspired by nature, the breathtaking acrobatics celebrate biodiversity.

[Julia and her new friends from Cirque du Soleil]

Julia and her new friends from Cirque du Soleil(Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

Crickets leap into the sky and tumble mid-air. Fiery red dancers perform with mind-boggling accuracy. Twisting spiders and newly hatched flies sweep across the stage, while a love story unfolds and the enormous egg ovo in Portuguese keeps the audience wondering.

The show plays out like a living ecosystem, bringing together elite athletes from all over the world, each act connected and feeding off the next. Every movement has purpose, every creature its place.

Ramarni delivers one of the most high-energy moments in the entire production a flying, buoyant performance that surges across the stage and lifts the room, played out in front of thousands of people in the audience. Its joyful, explosive, and impossible not to get swept up in.

The new set features a massive climbing wall measuring 19.5 metres wide and 9 metres high. The inflatable egg at the start of the show stands 8.5 by 6 metres. The acrobatic structure hangs 14 metres above the ground and weighs more than 1,000kg.

When it comes to the aerial straps, the show has plenty of flying, and Im quietly hoping my own effort edges closer to the floating grace of a butterfly even while dressed as a cricket.

The team even let me perch at the front of the stage, usually reserved for performers, giving me a rare behind-the-scenes view of the colour, movement and spectacle.

I also meet the performer playing the Voyager clown, whose job isnt the high wire but walking on metre-long shoes while carrying the giant egg a feat of balance that makes me even more in awe.

Ive never had a bucket list. But if I ever do write one, appearing as a fluorescent green cricket at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Cirque du Soleil will be one thing I can tick off.

Because sometimes, coming full circle means realising that the things you once watched from your sofa thinking, I could do that are exactly the things you should say yes to.

OVO, from Cirque du Soleil, is at the Royal Albert Hall until March 1. Tickets are available online at www.cirquedusoleil.com/united-kingdom/london/ovo/buy-tickets

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