South African musician Francois le Roux, aka HA!Man, has used his classical cello training as a springboard into a career of spontaneous creativity and avant garde musical pursuits that have found him partnered with Belgian actress, vocalist and word artist Joke Debaere for the past three years. A typical three-part program starts with HA!Man’s solo performance of “reflective and classical sounds.” Then, he’s joined by Debaere in a fusion of cello, keys, electronics, poetry, song and dance as accompanied by original backtracks and video projections, with parts of it purely improvisational and hitting on nine different moods: mystical, classical, spiritual, experimental, energetic, jazzy, passionate, festive and lastly, all-embracing. The core of HA! is the idea of connecting, so the program’s final part is an impromptu collaboration between the performers and the audience. Should make for an intriguing evening with a rather engaging conclusion.
The shows take place Thurs., Nov. 19, 7 p.m., Studio@620, and Fri., Nov. 20, 7 p.m., The Dali Museum, St. Petersburg; admission is $15 general/$10 seniors and students with ID.
This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2015.