Robe for Dans Dans Dans

26 March 2008

Article and pics courtesy Louise Stickland

 

 

  Robe moving lights have been specified by lighting designer Peter Rieck for the new series of freestyle dance TV show “Dans Dans Dans” for KYKNET, South Africa’s leading Afrikaans channel.

 

The series is staged in the Mardi Gras Theatre, Carnival City, Johannesburg. Fourteen non-celebrity dancers all live in the same house and compete for the  winning prize of 100,000 ZAR, a new car and assorted dance contracts. Two are evicted each week by the public.

 

            Lighting, sound and projection is being supplied by Pretoria-based Blond Productions for Grey White Productions. Blond do a lot of TV work including “Survivor South Africa” and “Big Brother Africa” – which prompted their first Robe purchase last year from South African distributor, DWR Distribution.

 

 

The set for “Dans Dans Dans” is based on a scenic cityscape, with a series of ‘buildings’ constructed from gauze-covered flats, which are ideal for taking colourful lighting and effects. “The producer’s brief was to add a WOW factor and some razzmatazz with the lighting” explains Rieck, who also has to make each piece of freestyle dancing (the couples are mixed and matched differently each week) look and feel unique.

 

 

  Twelve Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs are hung over the stage on the theatre LX bars and utilised extensively for set illumination and effects. There are also 6 ColorSpot 700E ATs in the overhead rig used for colouring the floor and the dancers as they strut their stuff, along with 12 ColorSpot 250ATs and 6 ColorSpot 575E ATs on the stage floor, adding drama and beam-work.

 

“We do a lot of gobo and colour mixing with them, specially on the 1200s and 700s” says Rieck, adding that he thinks the zoom facilities on the 700s in particular are “amazing”, as is the speed and responsiveness of the fixture.

 

 

The lighting department receives the music for the assorted dance pieces 3 days before the show, promoting some intense programming sessions. The show itself is very fast paced, and really capitalises on the fast movement of the Robe’s adds Blond Productions’ founder Christian Ballot, who also works on the show as lighting crew chief.

 

Rieck runs the show from a Compulite Rave console. The lighting rig also includes approximately 200 generic fixtures – a mix of PARs, fresnels and soft-lights.

 

 

  Since Blond Productions bought its Robe’s in 2007 they have been in constant use, “I am really happy with them” says Rieck, “They are very reliable and basically they’re the right lights at the right price and do everything I need”. He adds that the service they receive from DWR is “Fantastic” and they are looking forward to adding to their stock in the near future.

 

Date of issue : 21st March 2008.

 

For more press info. on Robe Lighting, please contact Louise Stickland on +44 (0)1865 202679/+44 (0)7831 329888 or Email ‘[email protected]’. For more product and general info, check www.robe.cz or call + 420 (0)57 162 5792.