A HA! performance starts with silence and no predetermined programme. It offers a rare journey through a range of emotions. The HA!Man (Francois le Roux) is a classically trained composer, cellist and pianist, but his all-original music is tapping from a wide range of styles and traditions. All live playing and singing is improvised and each performance is therefore unique. HA! is a breath and also a jump into the unknown. And yet, many layers of experience build a trustworthy unfolding that each time reaches a connecting destination.
This roller coaster of creativity in action has the audience constantly on edge as it travels from the inner world to the external world, from the minimal to the expansive, the healing to the boisterous, then reaching the world of interacting and homecoming. Sounds and words reflect life experience and bring intense emotions, vivid landscapes and dramatic stories into play.
Main mediums are the cello, keyboard instruments, flutes, body movement, words, voice and elements of acting. Layered electronic recordings serve as accompaniments, covering and renewing music styles from the classical to world music (especially african), elements of jazz and popular music genres. Video projection are sometimes added, enriching the HA! experience with images of road travel, nature and people from around the globe.
The audience is constantly on edge at each new inspiring surprise and is lead to a home-coming climax.
Common formats
are the house concert, fundraiser and community events, intimate public venues
and theatres, garden picnics, events in church buildings, school halls and
regular concert venues. When the format expands to include massed choir for
instance, successful events have been held in major concert halls and opera
houses. Then there are the odd venues, like a laundry or a boat or a cave,
all pregnant with creative possibilities for the HA! All said, it is the intimacy
of a house concert that often brings forth the best connection between
performer and audience, empowering local people to provide a platform for
the arts and bring people together for memorable experiences.
Regards finances, a balance is kept between affordability and viability, negotiating arrangements with both public and private hosts to make the experience meaningful to all. In most cases, all necessary sound, lights and other high quality equipment are carried along with no need for technical assistance. CD albums, greetings cards, books and other products are on sale.
In promoting HA! performances, there are no easy definitions (besides HA!). they always retain a strong element of the unknown. Yet this is exactly what allows for the much needed raw creativity to live on and nourish the arts in communities, through a full rainbow of energy and emotion - soul to soul, heart to heart, with loads of energy. HA!