Dance floor’s Picasso
As Robe works its magic, the Carlton Hotel in down-town Johannesburg is reinvented into something beyond her former days of glory. For a few hours every week this deserted building with her broken chandeliers is brought back to life as she is painted in light and danced upon by the kings and queens of the ballroom.
The South African showcase of Strictly Come Dancing has seen the transformation of celebrities with two left feet now able to cha cha cha across the ballroom in an array of splendour. The ballroom floor itself, has also undergone a tremendous metamorphosis.
The requirement for Strictly Come Dancing, a live television broadcast on SABC 2, was to have “an ocean of gobos on the dance floor”. With Hugh Turner as the original Lighting Designer, rental company Gearhouse SA once again pulled this off…albeit this time with a little Robe power!
“Our client, Rapid Blue, have given us the same spec for the last three seasons,” commented Lighting Director Sean Rosig from Gearhouse SA, who programs and runs each episode. “They are trying to duplicate the BBC production of SCD as closely as possible and Season 3 has been the best so far. We have achieved exactly what the client has envisioned, an easy task with the help of our new Robe 700 fixtures.” This was no mean feat given the difference between the resources and budget available when comparing SA to the UK.
The Robes are driven hard on each episode and during programming, and while they run 15 hour cycles without any glitches, there has never been a need to reset any of the units.
The show gets programmed every week the day before it goes on air, and Rosig loves the various beam angles available from both the spot and wash units. “The Robes are perfect for this show,” he said. “I particularly like the speed factor of all the attributes within these fixtures; from a ‘real’ bump to a slow and incredibly smooth fade.”
A GrandMA desk is the powerful lighting console behind SCD, and Rosig again only has positive feedback. “If you can imagine it, the console can do it and more! The unique networking capabilities of the console are amazing and the fact that you can virtually have an unlimited number of DMX channels is mind blowing.”
For Rosig the opportunity to work on SCD has been a unique experience, totally different to corporate gigs and with the extra adrenalin of meeting up to inter-national standards for a live production. Sadly, however, when asked if any of this has made him want to dance, he simply replied, “you must be joking!”
Equipment List
1 x GrandMA console
24 x Robe Colorspot 700
24 x Robe Colorwash 700
28 x Highend Systems Technobeams
10 x Highend Systems Cyberlights
24 x 1.2KW fresnels (Selecon)
12 x 2KW fresnels (Strand)
24 x Source Four Pars (ETC)
104 x Par 64 cans
30 x Selecon Pacific zoom profiles (14 – 35 deg)
