Ballet LIghting with no wings

[vinntec]

Hi dance lighting specialists!

 

I am working on a lighting design for a ballet company which will be performing at our tiny theatre in a couple of weeks. My first thought was "booms!" and I can just about squeeze some in if I use tiny Minuette Fs and the barndoors will be just on the boundary of the 6m wide dancefloor. Except that the ballet includes dancing with swords and staves, and when I looked at my model on WYSIWYG I had to think about the dancers' point of view. Here are hot metal objects at the same height as me which I have to avoid - and remember the dance floor is only 6m wide (proscenium is only slightly more). I can't do anything about the limitations of our building but I can avoid putting extra obstacles in the way.

 

If I assume sidelight is still the most important, it will have to come from above but as low as possible but not within sword range. It will light the dance floor, but I can't avoid that. So my precious Selecon RGBW LEDs will do the sidelight. Next most important = backlight for which I have less-sophisticated RGB LEDs available (thanks Simon if you are listening). Third most important = toplight. I have some of Simon's RGB LEDs left over, but not enough for complete cover but could do downstage area at least. Face fill - a job for tungsten straight on but at low level during ballet (perhaps even off for some scenes) but also useful for curtain calls (and possibly also for effects). I have a scene by scene description of the look wanted from the choreographer including a number of specials.

 

Just checking if I am approaching this the right way, or if anyone has any other suggestions - especially if faced with a similar problem in the past? Peter

[J Pearce]

When I've had to light dance with very little offstage space for booms I've used wide angle birdies. 4 or 5 spread vertically, repeated every metre up/downstage.

 

You can prep them up on 2x1 and then screw/cable-tie/invent as necessary. Much more compact and a very soft light. It won't give you contemporary dance levels of power, but will add enough in from the side to restore the modelling and sculpture.

 

Then use pipe ends for your power, on drop bars/long hook clamps if the trim height is too high. Because of the positions in my current venue I've fallen into a habit of combining backlight and toplight into toppy-backlight position, far enough back to catch shoulders not faces, but still useful as toplight. It can be handy when positions/fixtures are limited.

 

You could stick a fixture on either end of your FOH bar closest to stage, focussed to cross the stage, this will add some more side light and fill faces in as well.

[vinntec]

Hi Jon - thanks for the ideas. I considered birdies but even reducing the limited width by this much is too much. I could probably get some on floor stands in, but it would mean making gaps in the black surround which would cause another reduction in clearance not to reveal the wall.

 

Just to put it in context:

Proscenium arch: 6.25m wide, Sides are 60cm wide.

So a 6m wide dance floor only has a maximum clearance either side of about 85cm (a sword is about 50cm or more) where there are solid medieval walls - and that's before you consider the wide pillar on one side as well!

 

However I was considering using crossed FOH Selecon LED profiles and will include them now.

 

 

[kerry davies]

Why not reveal the wall? It may be "scruffy" medieval stonework but making a feature of a problem has always been a "creative" option. I would think laterally and consider a Brechtian approach using Pixelline type fixtures and stripped back staging. It might even be useful to floor mount a load of 300/500W Halogen floods on builder's stands.

 

 

Rather than trying to fit your circumstances to the dance, fit the dance to your conditions.

[indyld]

As Jon say, pipe ends and heavy 'just upstage' top/back. You won't get a lovely blue floor looking pool-like with bright dancers floating across it although that may not be possibly anyway, depending on your auditorium level. I would really not bother with face light particularly if you can get a decent look for calls without. Theatre front light and dance shows just don't go together although shin busters doing shadows on the back wall and spooky faces can be good. Otherwise, all pretty much 180 degree line or upstage for my money.

 

One option you have if you must use pipe ends is to oppose colours across stage. Then you get a bit of interest/extra modelling. The floor will be a bit of an ugly mess whatever, so hopefully either the punters can't see it or you have the option for black Marley.

 

Another more radical suggestion is mirrors or at least bouncing off light coloured panels at the side of stage. They need to be well hidden otherwise the panels themselves overpower everything, though this doesn't sound like an option anyway.

 

Pipe ends, slightly behind works quite well and as Jon says, drop them low if you can get away with it.

[mark_s]

Is the problem space 'at sword height'? If so, could you get away with a compact profile/PC on a floor stand to at least give you shins? That's the sort of solution I'd initially be investigating, I'd be quite reluctant to give up low sidelight unless it was a last resort. With regards to the rest of your post, it seems somewhat like you're trying to 'design by numbers'. I'd personally start by sitting down and developing a strong visual concept in Mk.1 WYG or on paper before I even begin to think about how to implement it - positions and what have you. The priorities change per production based on what you're trying to achieve, so you really need to know what that is before you prioritise backlight over toplight, etc.

 

I would really not bother with face light particularly if you can get a decent look for calls without. Theatre front light and dance shows just don't go together although shin busters doing shadows on the back wall and spooky faces can be good. Otherwise, all pretty much 180 degree line or upstage for my money.

 

We're talking tiny amounts, but I'm quite partial to some low crosslight from a box boom sort of position - I feel it helps everything look more 'balanced'. In the absence of low crosslight, I'd be going for even smaller amounts of straight-on frontlight. But this is the great thing about design - we all have a different approach, and they're mostly all equally valid.

[vinntec]

Why not reveal the wall? It may be "scruffy" medieval stonework but making a feature of a problem has always been a "creative" option. I would think laterally and consider a Brechtian approach using Pixelline type fixtures and stripped back staging. It might even be useful to floor mount a load of 300/500W Halogen floods on builder's stands.

 

 

Rather than trying to fit your circumstances to the dance, fit the dance to your conditions.

Kerry - its an idea but this is a theatre and the walls are covered with switch boxes, fuse boxes, cables, sockets etc (some lit) so would certainly be a distraction, which is why they have to be hidden. However I appreciate your thinking "outside the box"!

[mark_s]

Kerry - its an idea but this is a theatre and the walls are covered with switch boxes, fuse boxes, cables, sockets etc (some lit) so would certainly be a distraction, which is why they have to be hidden. However I appreciate your thinking "outside the box"!

 

Hofesh Schechter Company did just that at Northern Stage (and presumably elsewhere) for 'Uprising' a good few years ago. No masking whatsoever - booms in full view, walls of theatre in full view, wings in full view, etc, warts and all. They managed to pull it off quite nicely. Also provided a brilliant contrast to 'In Your Rooms' presented after the interval - complete with full masking.

[vinntec]

As Jon say, pipe ends and heavy 'just upstage' top/back. You won't get a lovely blue floor looking pool-like with bright dancers floating across it although that may not be possibly anyway, depending on your auditorium level. I would really not bother with face light particularly if you can get a decent look for calls without. Theatre front light and dance shows just don't go together although shin busters doing shadows on the back wall and spooky faces can be good. Otherwise, all pretty much 180 degree line or upstage for my money.

 

One option you have if you must use pipe ends is to oppose colours across stage. Then you get a bit of interest/extra modelling. The floor will be a bit of an ugly mess whatever, so hopefully either the punters can't see it or you have the option for black Marley.

 

Another more radical suggestion is mirrors or at least bouncing off light coloured panels at the side of stage. They need to be well hidden otherwise the panels themselves overpower everything, though this doesn't sound like an option anyway.

 

Pipe ends, slightly behind works quite well and as Jon says, drop them low if you can get away with it.

Thanks Rob. I did look at ways of reflecting off a mirror to get a direct side light, but there just isn't the room. That's two votes for combining back and top and as they are LEDs anyway, this means I can reuse some of them somewhere else or have three rows rather than two. The pipe ends will be my precious Selecon LEDs, but will keep in mind suggestions for contrasting colours. Does anyone have combinations which work together, or should I look for complementaries (and presumably tints rather than saturated in the main)? I may sneak a pair of birdies in just US of the proscenium to provide a limited dramatic uplight. When you say "slightly behind" pipe ends, do you mean facing slighting downstage or slightly upstage as I was thinking of going straight across?

 

Is the problem space 'at sword height'? If so, could you get away with a compact profile/PC on a floor stand to at least give you shins? That's the sort of solution I'd initially be investigating, I'd be quite reluctant to give up low sidelight unless it was a last resort. With regards to the rest of your post, it seems somewhat like you're trying to 'design by numbers'. I'd personally start by sitting down and developing a strong visual concept in Mk.1 WYG or on paper before I even begin to think about how to implement it - positions and what have you. The priorities change per production based on what you're trying to achieve, so you really need to know what that is before you prioritise backlight over toplight, etc.

 

I would really not bother with face light particularly if you can get a decent look for calls without. Theatre front light and dance shows just don't go together although shin busters doing shadows on the back wall and spooky faces can be good. Otherwise, all pretty much 180 degree line or upstage for my money.

 

We're talking tiny amounts, but I'm quite partial to some low crosslight from a box boom sort of position - I feel it helps everything look more 'balanced'. In the absence of low crosslight, I'd be going for even smaller amounts of straight-on frontlight. But this is the great thing about design - we all have a different approach, and they're mostly all equally valid.

Thanks for your thoughts Mark. I did think of shins on floor stands if necessary, but unless they are in full view of the audience they will have to be screened by having an L in the black tabs, which takes width out.

I spent quite a time getting an accurate WYSIWYG model so I can model both the lighting and the clearances - which is how I was convinced that although booms would provide a brilliant primary light source, the reduction in safe width was not an option. As each suggestion comes in they are tried on the model if I like the sound of them. Several people have suggested crosslight FOH and that is in the plan now possibly instead of face on, at least from FOH. So although I have my own ideas I am listening to suggestions, honest!

 

Kerry - its an idea but this is a theatre and the walls are covered with switch boxes, fuse boxes, cables, sockets etc (some lit) so would certainly be a distraction, which is why they have to be hidden. However I appreciate your thinking "outside the box"!

 

Hofesh Schechter Company did just that at Northern Stage (and presumably elsewhere) for 'Uprising' a good few years ago. No masking whatsoever - booms in full view, walls of theatre in full view, wings in full view, etc, warts and all. They managed to pull it off quite nicely. Also provided a brilliant contrast to 'In Your Rooms' presented after the interval - complete with full masking.

Hi Mark - the setting is in accordance with the choreographers wishes, but I like the concept especially in our 150th anniversary season to show off parts of the theatre that spend their lives hidden. But I don't want to make my theatre the star, when the focus must be the new professional ballet company who are trying to establish their particular style. This is especially true of the medieval parts which obviously we are not permitted to paint, and they are "white" stone so would stand out. Nice idea though which I will bear in mind for the future.

[indyld]

With pipe end, as with any sidelight, you have the choice of which way you poke it. Slightly behind for me is a little upstage, focused back down a touch. Obviously with sidelighting in front, you benefit from 'better' face lighting. Straight across, you get an even balance with the face pretty well lit across it too. With slighting behind you get more 'pop' from the modelling and sculpting elements and a little less flare on the face. either way, the shoulders,nose etc. still jump out at you in a way that you don't get with crosslight but needs must.

 

I find that straight or front biased pipe ends for dance can be a little 'natural' looking in terms of angles and extra halo and reduced 'in the face' from just upstage gives it a little something else. But to be honest, it's a matter of personal preference and as the pipe ends will presumably be fixed in up/down stage position then it is something you can experiment with during the focus. As you may know, focusing traditional booms a tadge DS of their position means that you get less noticeable spill on the opposite wing flat/tab from the auditorium. It can also reduce your need for back and/or top and thereby give you some more colours to play with (of course, in the world of LED colour mixing that is less of an issue than when each bit of kit only had one colour). If you really want to go radical, try out three quarter back!!

 

One other thing. As the object of dance lighting is to allow the audience to appreciate the physical form (no sniggering at the back) have you considered using a combination that includes some silhouetting? Doesn't have to be full on silhouettes, but if you like a backing brightly and darken the on stage light, leaving a little halo from the back/top, the form is revealed in good shape particularly if the majority of the punters are looking 'through' the performers at the backing. Just a thought and something I've used in the past.

 

Re: facelight. Yes, have something there if you like, even if it's from a box boom position etc. but you really don't want much of it and will hardly run it. If there was room, a low three quarter front position that skews across stage and disappears into the opposite wing is nice. It doesn't cover the whole stage up to down but works well in the front half.

[Don Allen]

An allinone led wall washer or led strip mounted vertically gives the thinnest profile for the brightest output and could be suitable for your sidelights. A non specific example Allinone led wall washer example The 10mm ones won't work.

[vinntec]

With pipe end, as with any sidelight, you have the choice of which way you poke it. Slightly behind for me is a little upstage, focused back down a touch. Obviously with sidelighting in front, you benefit from 'better' face lighting. Straight across, you get an even balance with the face pretty well lit across it too. With slighting behind you get more 'pop' from the modelling and sculpting elements and a little less flare on the face. either way, the shoulders,nose etc. still jump out at you in a way that you don't get with crosslight but needs must.

 

I find that straight or front biased pipe ends for dance can be a little 'natural' looking in terms of angles and extra halo and reduced 'in the face' from just upstage gives it a little something else. But to be honest, it's a matter of personal preference and as the pipe ends will presumably be fixed in up/down stage position then it is something you can experiment with during the focus. As you may know, focusing traditional booms a tadge DS of their position means that you get less noticeable spill on the opposite wing flat/tab from the auditorium. It can also reduce your need for back and/or top and thereby give you some more colours to play with (of course, in the world of LED colour mixing that is less of an issue than when each bit of kit only had one colour). If you really want to go radical, try out three quarter back!!

 

One other thing. As the object of dance lighting is to allow the audience to appreciate the physical form (no sniggering at the back) have you considered using a combination that includes some silhouetting? Doesn't have to be full on silhouettes, but if you like a backing brightly and darken the on stage light, leaving a little halo from the back/top, the form is revealed in good shape particularly if the majority of the punters are looking 'through' the performers at the backing. Just a thought and something I've used in the past.

 

Re: facelight. Yes, have something there if you like, even if it's from a box boom position etc. but you really don't want much of it and will hardly run it. If there was room, a low three quarter front position that skews across stage and disappears into the opposite wing is nice. It doesn't cover the whole stage up to down but works well in the front half.

Hi Rob, wow! Yes that sounds interesting, I will see what WYSIWYG says about slightly downstage sidelights as this sounds like the right effect.

We have a brand new cyc behind them and this will be lit by PLCYC1 x 5 (which is too many for our width so should be bright). This plus maybe combined backlight/toplight (slighly downstage toplight) should give a lot of options, all of it with LEDs, for silhouetting (which the choreographer wants). The main challenge is to light the dancers but keep direct light off the cyc so slightly downstage sidelight works even better. I might need some steep tungstens on the most upstage LX bar to allow dancers to get right up to the cyc without going completely dark, although there might be enough bounce off the cyc anyway.

[indyld]

I might need some steep tungstens on the most upstage LX bar to allow dancers to get right up to the cyc without going completely dark, although there might be enough bounce off the cyc anyway.

 

Yes, steep tops or straight across pipe ends here, even better if you can use profiles to hard shutter off the cyc. It depends on the angles but you can get pretty darn near and still be lit while the only unwanted light on the cyc is bounce off your costume!! It also doesn't matter if they get in the 'money' light of the cyc as it gets washed out anyway, particularly if saturated.

 

You do get a lot of bounce when doing that kind of sil effect, as you would expect, creating a magic backlight straight off the cyc. Our uni theatre has a huge FP screen upstage and the screen gain on that chucks light right back downstage and creates the halos (along with mess on the floor). Only thing is shadows on the cyc from the colour sources but the lit dancers detract from that.

[vinntec]

Yes, steep tops or straight across pipe ends here, even better if you can use profiles to hard shutter off the cyc. It depends on the angles but you can get pretty darn near and still be lit while the only unwanted light on the cyc is bounce off your costume!! It also doesn't matter if they get in the 'money' light of the cyc as it gets washed out anyway, particularly if saturated.

 

You do get a lot of bounce when doing that kind of sil effect, as you would expect, creating a magic backlight straight off the cyc. Our uni theatre has a huge FP screen upstage and the screen gain on that chucks light right back downstage and creates the halos (along with mess on the floor). Only thing is shadows on the cyc from the colour sources but the lit dancers detract from that.

Hmmm maybe a pair of straight across tungsten profiles would be better than straight down PCs for extreme US and a better balance with the rest of the lighting. I am trying to keep all direct light off the cyc but will no doubt get some bounce off the vinyl matt black dance floor (and the floor of the theatre around it which is wooden) which I can't do anything about, which is why having too many PLCYC1 is good (about 1m apart rather than 1.5m). However, with the sidelights trimmed downstage except FOH which is from ends of first FOH bar, I might get away with almost none except off the dancers themselves despite the tiny stage. I will have a few days between rigging and the company arriving while I am preparing the dance floor to fine tune if necessary.

Thanks Rob and others for some great ideas!

[paulears]

I started using some spare LED battens on the inner edges of our portals for side light. Nothing hot, and remarkably effective as their beams are very narrow. Working great where I'd have used shin busters and all the problems with size, heat and sharp edges.