Kaleïdo

Don't hesitate to contact us. You can send mail directly to Armelle Hédin or to the contact mail account (contact @ our web site name).
Thanks in advance....

:: Shortcuts ::
1. An unusual comedy
2. A musical show ...
3. Origins
4. A universal show
5. Audience
6. Armelle Hédin, Director and choreograph
7. Roudoudou, Music Composer
8. Technical details
 

" KALEÏDO "

BY Armelle Hédin

MUSIC : Roudoudou
("Tout l'Univers"- Delabel- EMI Music Publishing France)

WITH : Elsa Prunières- Guillaume van't Hoff- Alexandre Jean

STYLE : Physical Theater
Musical, humoristic and poetic show

THEME : Three funny characters meet each other in an imaginary world.
They "tame" each other and invent a playful way of communicating.

LENGTH : 70 minutes with no interval

PERFORMANCES : " Le Regard du Cygne ", " Le Cabaret Sauvage "
Due to the success, the show started in october 99 and was prolonged
until January 2 000. Till today, 30 performances in France.
 

KALEÏDO, an unusual comedy

Lola is instinctive, sylph-like and impulsive.
Lohm is a multilingual handyman, anchored in his loneliness
Cabioche is a head-in-the-clouds, crazy clown, a sort of free spirit.

These funny characters meet in an intermediate space between reality and the
imaginary. They "tame" each other and invent a playful way of communicating.
By chance they find themselves isolated from the rest of the world. Unable to speak the same language, their first concern is to communicate : they get to know each other by gestures, sounds, mime, dance and humor... From this moment on, it's all about daring initiatives, seduction games, misunderstandings, failed attempts ... These first steps lead to a desire of complicity, love, tenderness and of irresistible attraction.
 

KALEÏDO, a musical show ...
On a current, sensual and playful music, sensations collide with humour and lightness ; emotions telescope each other, furtive, like the patterns of a kaleidoscope.
Music is the essence of the show. It is part of the today's electronic movement. However it draws from different music forms - jazz, world music, drum'n bass, funk... thus making it accessible to all audiences.
In Kaleïdo, this music creates contrasting atmospheres, jostles the story around, provokes the characters and transports them in a whirl of emotions.
 

KALEÏDO's origins :
The idea behind the creation of Kaleïdo is to combine several artistic disciplines (theatre,
circus, mime, dance and clown...) to tell a story of human relationships using no dialogue
in an original and humoristic blend. This story is based on three strong and universal
characters - captivating, full of humor, and deeply human in their behaviour and weaknesses.
 

A universal show
Without any language or cultural barriers, Kaleïdo aims at the widest audience because
everybody can feel concerned by this story and sees himself in the characters.
This show can be understood by all nationalities and by people of all ages and
backgrounds. With Kaleïdo, we are witnessing the expression of a universal communication
that breaks all linguistic boundaries.
 

KALEÏDO'S audience
The performances in Paris and France have shown that this show appeals to a great diversity of audience as regards age (from 4 to 94), cultural backgrounds and nationalities.
Many non-French speakers have seen and appreciated the show that they could understand as well as a French spectator.
The public enjoyed the "freshness", the "poetry", the "humour", the "emotional involvement", the "inventiveness" ... of Kaleïdo.
 

ARMELLE HEDIN, Director and choreograph (armellehedin@pixscene.fr)

She comes from the world of musicals. Since her childhood, she has played in many
musicals in the most important theatres of Paris (Théâtre de Paris, Cirque d'Hiver...)
At sixteen, she directed her first musical with 40 youngsters.
In 1992, at eighteen, she founded a company of 30 actors, singers, dancers, and musicians
with the objective of directing a re-creation of the musical "Godspell" (by Stephen
Schwarz). It was successfully played in l'Européen, le Théâtre de Ménilmontant and
the Trianon. Her ambition is to revisit the musical style. She directed a new musical by
using this time mythical songs of musicals like "Hair", "Grease", "The Rocky Horror
Show", "Porgy and Bess"...

At this stage, professionals began to show a great interest for Armelle Hédin and she was welcomed for 6 months (1997) to Cameron Mackintosh's Production in London to complete her experience. In London, she assisted the Resident Directors of "Oliver! " and "Miss Saïgon".

The idea of creating Kaleïdo arose at this time. Back in Paris, she contributed to the creation of many musical shows - directing and creating choreographed scenes for the actors. In the meantime she looked for the actors and other artists needed for Kaleïdo.

Once the artistic team was gathered, work could start : the creation dates from october 99.
 

Roudoudou is the pseudonyme of the music composer. His notoriety comes from his days as DJ on a famous radio program on Radio Nova in Paris. In 1998 he recorded "Tout l'Univers" at Delabel and EMI Music Publishing France. This record had a great success.

His type of music is a mixture of current musical tendancies intersperced with surprising sounds. Kaleïdo appealed to him because of the similarities in humour and the imaginary he found between the show and his music. He decided to use some of the existing tracks of "Tout l'Univers" for Kaleïdo. He also composed new tracks.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Minimum technics :

STAGE : The stage must be 6 x 5 meters minimum and 5 meters ceiling height minimum.

DECOR : The center piece of the decor is a long sheet (5 meters minimum) suspended from the ceiling. It must be fixed very strongly to support 120 kg. There is also a range of accessories which altogether have a volume of 1.5 cubic meters.

SOUND : A CD player and mixing console.
Broadcast of sound must come from four different sources.

Further technical details (including lights) are available on request.

The company has also the technical means to be able to set outside performances.