Cirque du Soleil's Alegria is wowing Portland audiences for an entire month, but what goes on behind the scenes may be equally as impressive.

Senior Publicist Francis Jalbert took KATU's Wesleigh Ogle back stage to the wardrobe department and warm-up area. Jalbert says Alegria has 53 performers, but they all have different looks in the show, which totals 150 full costumes.

He says the costumes are handmade in Montreal, Canada to fit each performer like a glove.

"Most of our fabric is all LYCRA at first and we do all the printing and silk screening and detailing all in-house. Each hair is integrated hair by hair into the wigs as well," says Jalbert.

He even showed us some tricks of the trade, like running shoes that are made to look like Renaissance shoes that are much more comfortable for the performer.

The makeup, Jalbert says, is an extension of the costume that each artist applies themselves. It's a skill Francis' wife Oyun-Erdene Senge had to learn when she joined Cirque du Soleil at just 11 years old.

"In the beginning it was really hard because I never used any brushes and stuff and you have to blend a lot and you have to make perfect circles or shapes," Senge tells us.

Eighteen years and four productions later, Senge has perfected the makeup and performs a solo contortion act in Alegria. Senge says Alegria feels like a second home because it's the first Cirque du Soleil show she ever toured with.

You get to see the show again, but at the same time so much has changed, everything has been updated costumes music acrobatics.

Senge says she loves shocking audiences with her contortion act, but she says it's really just like stretching, which is good for your body.

"It's just fun because I'm not hurting but maybe they think I am, but I'm not hurting," Senge insists.

You might disagree with her, though, when you see her fold into a pretzel and do push-ups on stilts.

Cirque du Soliel's Alegria is under The Big Top at the Portland Expo Center through July 17, 2022. Get tickets here.