CirqueTech – “KÀ Tech Specs, Part 2/4”

By
Richasi
Published: Feb 16, 2007Posted in: CirqueTechTags:

Cirque du Soleil has been, over the years, very guarded about the technical aspects of its productions and in the past it was quite rare to receive a glimpse into what made each show tick. But no longer. Today we can explore the many facets of these shows, from its theme to the brand of speaker or light shining overhead; including this list provided by Cirque du Soleil. In this edition of CirqueTech, we explore the second of four of these KÀ Tech Specs: Dimensions of the Theater, Scenic Elements, and the Video Projections.

KÀ Tech Specs, Part 2:

DEFINING DIMENSIONS

  • 149 feet – From the high grid (ceiling) to lowest floor level.
  • 98 feet – From stage level (boardwalk) to high grid (ceiling).
  • 51 feet – From stage level to the lowest floor level.
  • 120 feet – The width of the performance area.
  • 120 feet – From the front of boardwalk to the back wall of the theatre.

SCENIC ELEMENTS

  • The boat in the Storm scene weighs almost 1800 pounds and is completely manipulated onstage by the artists.
  • For the Wash-up on the Shore scene, the beach is created using 350 cubic feet of granular cork from Portugal.
  • The Climb scene runs the Sand Cliff Deck through a sequence of moves that have it rotating up to 12 degrees per second, tilting through 60 degrees, as well as showing off its lifting motion. Artists are falling 60 feet into air bags below.
  • There are 14 “trees” in the Forest scene made of corrugated steel tube. Each has a diameter of four feet and is up to 80 feet tall.
  • The Wheel of Death in the Slave Cage scene is comprised of two independent sets of circular “cages” that rotate around a common axle. The movement is completely controlled by the artists in the “cages”.
  • In the Battle scene, the artists walk on the Sand Cliff Deck at a perpendicular angle to the ground. This is achieved through individual high-speed winches for each of the 16 artists, who control their movements through wireless remotes built into their costumes.
  • The scrim (sheer black curtain) is 75 feet tall by 140 feet wide.

VIDEO PROJECTIONS

  • The video projections in KÀ are an intricate mix of computer-generated effects and human input that turn the performance space into a cinema screen.
  • To create the interactive projections that follow an artist’s movement, the artists are captured by an infrared-sensitive camera above the stage and their movements are tracked by a computer.
  • Additionally, the performance area is formatted into an oversized touch-screen that can determine the precise position of each artist. The information gathered from them influences the mathematical parameters of any number of worlds that are then re-projected onto the space they occupy.

{ Source: Cirque du Soleil Press Room }