Sixty-three horses and 43 artists perform in the biggest big top in North America this month when Cavalia’s new show, Odysseo, premieres in Toronto on April 8 and runs throughout the month (www.cavalia.net). The show features Mississauga native Amanda Orlowski. We caught up with her while she was on a break at a farm in Kentucky.

How did a girl from the burbs end up in a travelling horse show?
I was looking for work, and I started working for the Cavalia people as a groom in the stables. Two and a half years later, I was in Australia, and the founder offered for me to go and train in France at an equestrian school and then come and be an artist in the show. It came at a time in my life when I was searching and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be or how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. It opened doors and gave me a life path, if you will.

You must be excited to perform in front of a hometown crowd.
Oh yeah, it’s been a long time since I’ve been back. It’ll be great to see family and bring them to the show so they can understand why I ran away with the horse circus.

Tell me about the show.
The show is Cavalia’s second, and it’s a journey around the world exploring natural wonders, and it’s a journey with horses and all different disciplines like liberty, trick, dressage, etc. It’s kind of like a visual masterpiece with horses. It sounds a little cheesy, but it really makes you appreciate horses and what people are capable of doing with them.

So what is your role?
I do a few different disciplines. A little bit of dressage, the carousel act with 16 horses set on the Mongolian steppes. Also Roman riding where I’m standing on two different horses, and that’s set in a winter scene. The costumes are really beautiful. And liberty, where the horses are free and there is no riding and no ropes. You use vocal commands and body language to ask them certain requests to follow you or lie down.

What is the most exciting part of the show, for you?
For me, it’s the build up just before the show, when we’re getting on our makeup and getting ready, and you can hear the audience five minutes before it starts. There is nothing else really that exciting. And I love showing what horses are capable of doing.

And how do you like the travelling part?
I love the travelling. I’m a little bit of a butterfly. I need new, different places and people. I’ve been on tour for about four years now. I’ve done all of America, Canada, Mexico and Australia and also France for training. Some places I thought I would never enjoy, but I’ve learned so much about them and come to love them.