When Canadian singer-songwriter Tamia came to South Africa on her three city tour, six Robe Pointes were used for the Johannesburg leg of the tour hosted at the Carnival City Big Top Arena. Magz Schoeman, head of lighting at Carnival City was the lighting designer for the show hosted on the 27th and 28th April.
With free reign to come up with the lighting design for this R & B pop performer, Schoeman started her journey by getting her hands on Tamia’s music. “Tamia’s sound is very chilled and after the first song, I thought pink.” With soft pastel colours in mind, Schoeman used 6 Robe Pointes, 8 Robin 100LEDBeams, 8 Robin 300s, 4 Robin 600s, 6 x Robe MMX Spots, 4 x Martin MAC 550 Profiles and 12 MAC 575 Krypons and 6 bars of 6 LED pars to create something special and a design which was complimented by the event organizer.
“The Pointes were great,” said Schoeman. “It was the first time I used them and I love the gobos and effects one can create, and the brightness of the colours.”
In an industry, particularly dominated by males in South Africa, Schoeman is delighted to be a lighting operator/designer and often lights international performances at her venue. Her love affair with lighting started when she was a 15 year old teenager attending a Smashing Pumpkins concert in Centurion. Within an instant she knew what career path to follow and ended up studying Entertainment Technology at Pretoria’s TUT facility.
After graduating, Schoeman freelanced on various festivals such as the tough-going Oppikoppi where she often assisted Stage Effects. “Working on the technical side of a festival like Oppikoppi really teaches you to toughen up,” said Schoeman. Her sense of adventure led her to sail the seas for two years, where she utilized her technical skills on cruise ships and in this way saw the world and worked with all kinds of people from various nationalities.
Schoeman, who has been with Carnival City for the past year, admits that it’s not always easy being a female LD.
“You have to prove yourself and tend to work extra hard, yet the boys have always been good to me and supported me wherever I go. I appreciate and love them so much for it!!” she said. “I love the gigs and I love it when the audience is having a good time. It can be a mans world as long as I’m a woman in it”.
Tamia’s played to a full house in Johannesburg.
