Dance show 360 degrees

[adamwanstall]

Werent sure if this belongs in stage and rigging or here, but anyway... its here now...

 

Im working on a dance show which we want an audience in the round I guess is the best way to put it.

The theatre space is 13m x 13m .... The hiering manager doesnt like the idea of a stage platform (And neither do I to be honest)

They also think visibility will be very limited... I need some opinions on this... Me and the Dancers are stuck on the idea of having the performance area

dead in the centre of the room. Its a very low budget community event aswell... So I dont have the option to hire in a load of platforms etc. How can achieve this set out and

ensure the Dancers safety while not disrupting the audiences visibility?????

 

Thanks for any help :)

[paulears]

If the audience need to see then you only really have two options, raise the performers or raise the audience. A couple of rows of seats on the floor, and then some seats on rostra will be fine, assuming you have the usual rails and treads to make it safe. It depends on how much kit you have and how much money I suppose. Dance can be quite good viewed from above.

[durian]

we do a lot of theatre in the round when we roll back the 212 seat system.

 

we just stagger the chair positions slighty to give people a better view through people.

 

we use a sort of clock face layout with gaps every 'twenty minutes' to ease the view

 

this might come at a cost in a commercial environment, bums on seats ££

[Brian]

...ensure the Dancers safety...

I've read this a couple of times and can't see a safety issue. Am I missing something?

[ramdram]

When you say "dancers' safety"...these dancers are not the sort who don't have much in the way of costume dept. are they?

 

And these punters are not of the "feel the quality AND the width" chaps are they?

 

If you want to gauge the sight lines for yourself then set the seating out and get your colleagues to sit in front of you. Only by doing can you be knowing. If the dancers gyrations are masked by the other punters then its either seats tiered or stage up.

 

Might save a lot of complaints after...

[paulears]

Worst bit is where choreographer make them do on the floor work which wrecks sight lines

[ramdram]

I take it you've been "there", then??? Got to be stage up.

[adamwanstall]

...ensure the Dancers safety...

I've read this a couple of times and can't see a safety issue. Am I missing something?

 

The management of the theatre are worried about the dancers falling off the platform :S

[kerry davies]

That is insane Adam and almost oxymoronic. Banning performance on raised areas in theatre? WTF?

 

It is their job to manage the risk associated with performance not ban it. They are stupid, incompetent and/or lazy fools.

 

If you wish I can forward you a sharp object upon which they may hurl themselves and stop depriving far more sentient beings, like fungus and mould, of oxygen.

[Just Some Bloke]

Blimey Kerry, that's harsh! It's not like you to dismiss H&S worries so lightly!

 

The reply didn't say they wanted to ban the use of a stage, just that they wanted to risk assess it. We don't know the full details but if they're using some young dancers (dance schools often take children from 3+) and they're used to rehearsing in full flourescent light on a non-raised area, and then they might be putting those same dancers on a raised platform with bright lights in their eyes and no light at all where the stage isn't (if that makes sense!), then they should have legitimate worries about the children falling off.

 

Easily dealt with, obviously, by marking the edges in white and then rehearsing first with the house lights on then again with them off so they're fully used to the stage, but it's certainly a risk that needs assessing.

[ramdram]

In which case it might have been more useful if the OP had stated exactly what was being planned and the responses would be more to the point. If the question is vague then the answers tend to be more catholic.

 

If the dancers are not adults but nippers then that is one scenario and if the dancers are very adult then that is an entirely different matter.

[paulears]

well - the 'heiring' manager sounds like a school kind of title - so no surprises there then, but it always bothers me why the teachers who get paid such terrible salaries poor darlings, don't do this kind of thing instead of passing it to their students.

 

When I was teaching I frequently told the union rep that there was no way anyone outside teaching would ever feel sorry for them - no matter the downsides to the job - it's still a lot of money! If I was the OP - I'd be passing this problem right back to whoever had the idea and let them fight with the heiring manager!

[brainwave-generator]

I think I agree with Kerry, many small-level projects I have worked on (for my sins) seem to have the attitude of:

 

"It needs a risk assessment? Well if it needs a RISK assessment it must be RISKY. If it's RISKY we don't want it. Ban!!!"

The self-titled H&S-representatives however are usually first to pronounce that you are rubbish because you can't get the result they want despite the fact they banned everything you could have done to do it. They are the sort of people who would ban water and then moan when you told them you couldn't make the ice they asked for.

[GRisdale]

*Side steps the H&S outrage bus*

 

This all depends on the audience numbers you are expecting.

 

I've done two projects along these lines, in a space that ended up being approximately 10m x 6m. In the first we ran a single row of chairs all around the space, with two entry points. In the second we allowed the audience to stand around the edge of the space. As a hybrid, you could have a single ring of chairs with standing room behind. All of these options negate the need for raising the performers up to see floor work. Depending on how long the work is, you could consider running it twice if capacity is an issue.

 

I personally liked the standing up option best (the work was only 20 mins, but you should have a few chairs ready in case anyone isn't able to stand that long). It's rare that an audience gets to stand on stage next to the dancers while they're performing! You can even build them into the choreography...

 

Gareth.