Kà


Kà is a show by Cirque du Soleil at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kà describes the story as "the coming of age of a young man and a young woman through their encounters with love, conflict and the duality of Kà, the fire that can unite or separate, destroy or illuminate."
In its review, the Los Angeles Times stated it "may well be the most lavish production in the history of Western theater. It is surely the most technologically advanced." The New York Times highly praised all the technical aspects and costumes, but felt that it did not succeed in a particularly compelling story, rather it was "essentially about the kind of wild physical feats that all Cirque shows are about, their jaw-dropping effect multiplied by the huge dimensions of the theatrical space." The show has been seen by more than one million spectators since its opening in February 2005.

History

Created and directed by Robert Lepage, Kà began show previews on November 26, 2004 and the show premiered on February 3, 2005. Kà was the first Cirque du Soleil show to encompass a cohesive storyline. The show's title, Kà, is inspired by the ancient Egyptian belief in the "Kà," an invisible spiritual duplicate of the body that accompanies every human being throughout this life and into the next.
Kà is the first Cirque du Soleil production that deviates from the company's usual format—the production presents a more straightforward story, unlike the more abstract visuals presented by other Cirque productions. The show and the theater cost $165 million to develop.

Set and technical information

Kà lacks a conventional stage with a permanent floor; instead, two giant moving platforms and five smaller lifts and platforms appear to float through a bottomless space. A narrow boardwalk separates the audience from a deep abyss where the stage floor would normally be. From the stage level of the boardwalk up to the high grid is, and the pit drops below, amounting to a total of some 15 stories from the highest ceiling grid to the lowest floor level. The opening width and depth of the performance area are each. This enormous performance space is reconfigured with each scene change by the complex movements of the show's lifts and platforms.
The largest moveable platform employed in the show, the Sand Cliff Deck, measures and weighs 50 tons. A vertical gantry crane supports and controls the Sand Cliff Deck, lifting the platform up and down, rotating it 360 degrees and tilting it from flat to 100 degrees. This is attached to four hydraulic cylinders that run along two support columns. The Sand Cliff Deck is equipped with show and work lights, circular elevators to bring performers in and out, 80 'rod actuators' that sprout from the floor surface to enable performers to climb it when it is tilted vertically, and video projection tiles that allow computer-generated images to appear on the floor of the deck. In one scene, the entire deck is covered with of imported granular cork from Portugal which creates the realistic appearance of a beach.
The second largest platform, the Tatami Deck, is a cantilevered platform located upstage of the Sand Cliff Deck. It weighs, and slides in and out like a drawer to provide a horizontal stage and carry massive set pieces such as the Wheel of Death.
These two decks can appear alone or together or simply disappear from view; they can move in front of, behind, above or below each other.
The theater and stage were designed by British architect Mark Fisher; the structural design and engineering of the stage platforms was by the New York City engineering firm McLaren Engineering Group, owned and operated by Mal McLaren. The torsion tube, wrist, and arm assembly for the Sand Cliff deck were built by Timberland Equipment, a company that normally builds mining equipment.
In 2008, the unique floating stages earned Kà the prestigious Thea Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement from the Themed Entertainment Association.

Effects

Kà combines complex automation, pyrotechnics, puppetry, and multimedia projections that help immerse the audience in the story.

Sound and video

The Kà theater, which has a capacity of 1950 people, is equipped with a total of 4774 loudspeaker drivers in 2139 cabinets: a pair of speakers at ear level in every seat and hundreds more strategically placed around the auditorium. The digitally mixed audio system routes an intricate mix of sound effects and music to these speakers to create a very dynamic surround-sound audio experience. Sound effects can be targeted, manipulated and customized to any of 16 seating zones.
The multimedia projection in the show utilizes both infrared video motion detecting as well as a system of touch-sensitive panels beneath the surface of the main 'Sand Cliff' deck. This allows the system to track the location of individual performers and change the video content accordingly. A similar example of the infrared portion of this technology can be seen in some movie theater lobbies where people can step on and burst video projected bubbles.

Safety

Kà takes safety very seriously in the form of technical implementations as well as training. Such areas include power sources, fire precautions, falling, harness equipment, and other such items among many others. As an example, many performers wear earpieces during the show in order to hear cues when they can perform various stunts safely.
Due to the speed in which artists fall from the decks, an array of airbags had to be used in lieu of traditional nets alone. These airbags sit atop two nets, which at times are below the point the artist begins the fall. The airbags contain individual cells which can inflate and deflate independently. In case a power outage occurs, each airbag has its own uninterruptible power supply which can last up to 30 minutes.
The sandcliff deck has pegs built into it which are used during the Climb scene. Each peg has a sensor which will not allow it to shoot out from the deck if something is blocking its path. These pegs shoot out at a speed of, simulating arrows striking the surface. Likewise, each peg can only retract with less than of pressure. Thus if someone were hanging off of it, the peg would stay in place. If something were to go wrong with the deck, a set of backup pegs are in place which can be utilized as a safety ladder to allow performers to exit the deck safely.
As for the aerial rigging system which allows performers to perform tricks in the air while harnessed, it too has safety features. If a harness or wire were to fail, a fail-safe mechanism is in place which would lower the performer to the stage or in the aisles to safely detach from the cabling system.
As the Kà theatre is inside the MGM, it too is integrated into the building's fire suppression system. During the show, stage managers must contact hotel security and ask that the fire officer override the fire detection equipment in the theatre during the duration of any pyrotechnic and fire stunts.

Accidents and incidents

On June 29, 2013, cast member Sarah "Sasoun" Guyard-Guillot, an acrobat from Paris, France, died after she fell about 94 feet from the show's stage at MGM Grand. She was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada where she died. It was the first reported death from an accident onstage in Cirque du Soleil's 30-year history.
It was the second time in less than a week that a Cirque show on the Strip was halted for an accident involving one of its artists; a performer in one of the final preview performances of Michael Jackson One at Mandalay Bay suffered a mild concussion after slipping through the slack rope in the show’s “Stranger in Moscow” scene, missing the protective pad below the act and landing hard upon the stage. The performer was expected to return to the show.
Two artists in Zumanity at New York-New York were seriously injured in an onstage fall in November 2007.

Cast

A team of over 300 people make up the production team for Kà, ranging from technicians to support staff. Eighty people from this team comprise the on-stage artists and performers.
The choreography incorporates several types of acrobatics and martial arts, including fight scenes using the Wushu style of martial arts, Chinese opera, Poi for manipulating staves and batons, Brazilian Capoeira dance, bungees, aerial straps, swing poles, and a wheel of death.

Acts

Kà is a story about "conflict and love", of "imperial twins who are separated at the prime of their youth and must undergo a rite of passage of self-discovery. It is about their encounters with Kà, the fire that has the dual power to destroy or illuminate."
Unlike other Cirque du Soleil performances, Kà offers four pre-shows. Once the house opens, guests are greeted by the villagers of Kà. Twenty minutes before curtain, two musicians enter the lobby and climb up to two stringed instruments specially designed for Kà and integrated into the architecture. Ten minutes before the show, actors appear in the metal framework to the left and right of the stage and perform flips and leaps assisted with ropes to dive into the audience and attempt to scare viewers. Five minutes before showtime, a staged act informs the audience that there is no flash photography or cell phone usage allowed.
The story is told in a total of fourteen scenes, each of which is preceded by movement of one or more of the massive stage elements.
Asian visual iconography was the inspiration for many of the costumes in Kà: this can be seen in the imperial court and martial artists wardrobes. The Twins, for instance, have very lavish silk costumes which draw inspiration from orientalist painters from Japan, Korea, and India.
Cirque du Soleil utilized a new type of digital screen printing in order to design many costumes for Kà, examples of which can be seen in the Forest People, Archers, and the Counselor's Son. The Forest People's costumes rely on printing the performers' body definitions onto the actual fabric to enhance the appearance of making their skin actually look like it is truly blue and green. Inspiration was drawn from the African Maasai warriors' ritual scar markings. As for the Archers, skin-toned Tactel was selected and tattoo designs were printed on it to make the Archers' tattoos look truly realistic. They also have moulded rubber toes attached to their shoes, giving the appearance that they are barefoot. Tattooing techniques used for the Archers were also applied to the Counselor's Son. In addition, a ripped piece of kilt is superimposed on his costume; this was made by using "shibori".
The crab puppets seen in the beach scene each took approximately 1,300 hours to create.

Music

Kà features an off-stage band that accompanies the acting, acrobatics, and singing that takes place on stage. During various portions of the show, different musicians make appearances in the show, performing in costume directly on the stage. The vocals in Kà are provided by a mezzo-soprano and an alto.
Originally, Kàs score was to be composed by Benoit Jutras. However, he left the show because of creative differences, and the music of Kà was composed by René Dupéré, who has composed music for multiple other Cirque productions, including Mystère at Treasure Island, and Cirque's touring production of Alegría.
The soundtrack for Kà was released on the 18th of October, 2005. In addition to the original score, the soundtrack features several 'inspired by' tracks. Although the album is somewhat remixed, most of the content remains faithful to the show.
Co-produced, arranged and engineered by Martin Lord-Ferguson, the Kà soundtrack features a symphonic orchestra of 57 musicians conducted by Hollywood veteran Simon Leclerc and a choir of over 50 singers conducted by Jean-Sebastien Allaire, making Kà Cirque du Soleil's most "ambitious recording to date." The album features the voices of Élise Velle, Ella Louise Allaire and a young soprano boy named Philippe Lapan-Vandal. In addition, the 'inspired by' tracks, with the exception of "If I Could Reach Your Heart", feature the voice of Canadian world artist Nitza Melas.
Through the music of Kà, René Dupéré attempts to provoke various emotions and moods such as drama, emergency, serenity, passion, and even "the birth of love". Dupéré describes the music with an "African flavor" and states that he wants the audience to feel that the show is "full of energy". He says that the music is not intended to sound as though it belongs to a specific time frame. "It could be from medieval times or even 200 years in the future...the music itself is ageless."
The tracks on the Kà soundtrack, followed by the scenes to accompany the songs are listed below.
  1. O Makundé
  2. Pageant
  3. Koudamare '
  4. Storm
  5. Deep
  6. Shadowplay
  7. Pursuit
  8. Forest / Pole jumping
  9. Flight
  10. Threat / Twin's Abduction
  11. Love Dance
  12. Battlefield
  13. Aftermath
  14. If I Could Reach Your Heart
  15. We've Been Waiting So Long
  16. Reach For Me Now
Songs in the show that are not on the soundtrack album:
Cirque du Soleil and Marvel Entertainment teamed up to adapt Kà through a limited four-part series of collectible comic books. Created by comic book writer Bryan J.L. Glass, artist Wellinton Alves and colorist Jean-Francois Beaulieu, these comics follow the heroic journey of the Imperial Twins, separated by war, who encounter adventure and peril at every turn on their quest to reunite their kingdom. The first installment debuted at the Marvel booth at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con on July 12 – 15, then a wide release followed into comic book stores and a digital download version with subsequent issues to come.

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