MILAN, ITALY – Piazza della Scala, a meeting place for Milan’s high society and home to its iconic opera house, was the scene of “Polvere di Stelle” (stardust), a beautiful son et lumière show which extended throughout the Christmas holiday period, from 16 December 2013 to 7 January 2014. Seven

Words by Louise Stickland, Picture by Kirk Fitzgerald An estimated 1.2 million people packed into Times Square, New York City on December 31 to party into 2014 with the New Year’s Eve Ball drop. Billions watched the broadcast worldwide as Lighting Designer Paul Miller updated the old annual tradition this

Photos courtesy East Coast Radio, by Abhi Indrarajan East Coast Radio’s Durban Day was a huge hit with a sensational line up including The Kickstands, Toya Delazy, Zakes Bantwini, Lira, Mango Groove, Prime Circle, MiCasa and Goldfish. The show, which attracted around 14 000 people, was hosted at the People’s

  Outside of the traditional theatre market, Robert Juliat has again proven a hot and sparkling favourite, not only for television, corporate, architectural and retail applications, but for large-scale spectaculars and live music events too. Robert Juliat is delighted to have this confirmed by Billboard Magazine’s list of Top Ten

South African doctors were recognized for excellence at the Annual SAMA Doctors Awards held at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre, Johannesburg in August. The full technical and decor for the gala event was supplied by Showgroup. The show ran off an Avolites Titan Mobile and included Robin fixtures and

Preparations are in motion for Fact Durban Rocks 2014 after the success of last year’s event where Hirezone supplied the full technical for a record crowd of 13 000 people. Hirezone were involved with numerous festivals and corporate events in KwaZulu during 2013, their ongoing successes attributed to a dedicated

It was a delightful surprise to see Hugh Wyllie at DWR Distribution once again. He has been living in the United Kingdom for the past two years and visited South Africa over the festive season. We sat him down with a toasted cheese, ham and tomato sandwhich, and as he shared

For the third consecutive year, MJ Event Gear supplied the full technical including sound, lighting video and set elements, for Transnet’s annual breakfast and media briefing hosted at the Hilton Hotel, Sandton. The event, which took place earlier in 2013, was identified with a fresh, crisp look. It was a

  Choirs from 12 African countries competed in the 9th annual One Harmony Choir Festival at the Joburg Theatre. Having supplied the full technical since the show’s inception, Showgroup were honoured to be involved once again. This competition recognises the commitment, sacrifice and hard work of all the choir members,

AV Unlimited was again appointed by Mela events to supply full technical for the South African leg of the Samsung Note3 World Tour launch. The event was held in Cape Town at the CTICC on September 26th where invited guests were flown in to the beautiful mother city to attend

Like a kaleidoscope with forms constantly shifting and changing, Showgroup orchestrated a captivating production for the Nedbank Top Achiever Awards held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. The kaleidoscope theme was the brainchild of Showroup’s Johan Els who focuses on the aesthetic and decor elements of an event, and Andries Liebenberg,

  It was a pleasure to welcome Jasper van der Sluis, Brand Engineer at ProLyft, to South Africa for the second time. Jasper provided training to the team at DWR Distribution, who are the Prolyte and ProLyft distributors in South Africa. This included training on service, maintenance, certifying hoists and

The DWR Team were invited by Nick Britz to attend a basic Avolites Training course which covered the infrastructure and operational instructions of the console. The day kicked off with a short briefing from Bruce Riley on his recent travels to PLASA. Then it was over to Nick Britz. Bruce Riley

LAS VEGAS – Another success for the new Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE. The spectacular LED moving head the Italian manufacturer launched at Plasa 2013 has won another award in addition to the one it won at the London event. It was presented with an LDI Award during the annual trade

27 November 2013     Robe Lighting enjoyed one of its busiest and best LDI exhibitions to date at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, which saw their stylish, eye-catching all white booth – complete with spectacular lightshow designed by Nathan Wan – win ‘Best Big Booth Design’ category of the

21 November 2013   LIVE broadcast on SABC (South Africa Broadcast Corporation) By Ryan Dunbar (Lighting Designer at Gearhouse SA) The 6th SABC Crown Gospel Awards was filmed live by the SABC for the first time this year. The event was held at a packed Durban ICC Arena and all

18 November 2013   Photos and story courtesy Louise Stickland Robe’s latest technologies  – including the PLASA Innovation Award winning MiniMe LED and digital effects luminaire plus DLS Profile, DLX Spot, MMX Spot, LEDBeam 100s and LEDWash 600 moving lights – were specified by Lighting Designer Steve Sinclair for the

18 November 2013   Photos courtesy Mikki Kunttu Leading Finnish Lighting & Visuals Designer Mikki Kunttu is putting his own creative stamp on the current season of Idols in Finland, for which he is lighting, visuals and set designer. Finnish Idols is in its seventh glorious season and also celebrating

13 November 2013     Photos and story courtesy Louise Stickland Robe moving lights are in action on the 2013 series of Idols South Africa, with lighting again designed by Joshua Cutts from Visual Frontier and supplied by technical production specialists Dream Sets for series producers Sic Entertainment. The 10

11 November 2013   The Big Beat team It was party night as the reggae sounds of Undivided Roots (whose main guitarist is ten years old!), floated through the warehouse of Big Beat Productions. October marked Big Beat’s first year in their new premises in Pietermaritzburg, and invited clients celebrated

07 November 2013   Photo courtesy Louise Stickland By Louise Stickland Robe’s latest LED moving lights are being used in great style to light the current series of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ in South Africa, which is being recorded at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)’s Renaissance Centre

05 November 2013   Clay Paky Lighting Fixtures Wrap a Summer on the Road with the 311Tour USA – Omaha-based alternative rock band 311 completed its summer Unity Tour 2013, and a large complement of Clay Paky lighting went along for the 26-show ride coast-to-coast.  The tour marked the eleventh

04 November 2013     You are invited to join us for our grandMA2 training week. The training week will be presented by Nic Britz and will consist of three short courses over a period of five days. Basic User Course Cost: R1000.00 incl VAT Time: 9am to 4pm Venue:

29 October 2013     PROLYTE RIGGING TRAINING COURSE Once again DWR Distribution takes pleasure in inviting you to attend the Prolyte Rigging Training Course in conjunction with Prolyte and Rhino Rigs. The course is set to be more practical but will also include important aspects like safety, machinery and

25 October 2013   An Avolites Titan Training Course was hosted at DWR Distribution’s new premises in Laserpark, Johannesburg, from 21 to 23 October 2013. Due to a wonderful interest from rental companies in and around the Durban area, the same workshop will be held in KwaZulu Natal from 28

17 October 2013     Story and photos courtesy Louise Stickland Robe LEDWash 1200s and LEDBeam 100s were specified by Italian TV Lighting Designer Sandro Carotenuto for the live shows in the latest ‘Made in Sud’ comedy series. These were recorded in the 600 capacity Auditorium venue at the RAI

16 October 2013   Images courtesy The Guild Theatre If one had to allocate the epicentre of the Performing Arts in East London – a city that lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River and the Nahoon River and which hosts South Africa’s only river port

15 October 2013   Seen for the first time at PLASA was Doughty Engineering’s innovative motorised lectern, as well as its new and stronger range of truss adaptors. The unique lectern – the first of its kind – is fully DDA compliant and visitors on the stand were able to

11 October 2013     LumenRadio debuts the revolutionary new SuperNova 3 software at PLASA this year. Utilizing the Art-Net and RDM management protocols, SuperNova 3 enables system-wide control of the entire lighting infrastructure. Alerts and monitoring can be configured for each element of the system – when a temperature

10 October 2013   Chart topping, award winning and enduringly popular UK pop rockers McFly celebrated 10 years at the forefront of the music industry with great panache and some help from Robe’s latest technology … in four sold-out shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The RAH’s Lighting department were

07 October 2013   Robert Juliat, French manufacturer of tungsten, discharge and LED lighting fixtures and followspots, will be exhibiting at PLASA 2013 on stand T76 in the Ambersphere Solutions area. “We are pleased to be part of the exciting changes as PLASA moves to its new venue at London

07 October 2013   Robe lighting is showcasing nine innovative new products on stand L80 in Hall 5 at the PLASA lighting & sound exhibition at ExCeL London, October 6th – 9th 2013. Products will include all those launched at Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt in April – The Pointe, MiniMe, CycFx 8,

26 September 2013   Photos courtesy Janco Photography MGG Productions supplied the full technical for their client, Eventworx, for a corporate event hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre earlier this year, one which absolutely shouted sci-fi. Having over 160 Robe fixtures, Kevin Rieck created a thrilling lighting design using timecode

17 September 2013   Duncan Riley (DWR) and Stuart Andrews (Gearhouse South Africa)   Gearhouse South Africa have invested in new lighting equipment comprising of 150 moving head fixtures and two new consoles. The purchase was made in order for Gearhouse to fulfil their upcoming workload. As they have an

13 September 2013   From Sun City, Ian Stewart, Reg Habib and “Victor”.     The Sun City Theatre, better known as the old Extrav Theatre, in the North West Province, South Africa, has invested in two Robert Juliat Victors. The Victor is the first 1800W followspots on the market.

13 September 2013      During set up, Michael Broderick (left) & Oliver Hauser Operations Manager from AFDA Johannesburg Day.   KwaZulu Natal’s most respected art festival, the annual Witness Hilton Arts Festival, turns 21 this year and takes place on the beautiful grounds of Hilton College this weekend, from 12

12 September 2013     USA – The brand new Hakkasan nightclub within the MGM Grand in Las Vegas has added dazzling sparkle to its huge main dance floor by installing 16 of Clay Paky’s powerful laser-like beam Sharpys. The sixteen perfectly parallel pure beam Sharpys are rigged on the

12 September 2013   Over 2000 Robe LEDWash fixtures are in action on a series of high profile stands – including Audi, BMW, Mini. Opel, Porsche, Seat and Volkswagen, at the Frankfurt 65th International Motor Show (IAA). One of the world’s leading auto expos, IAA 2013 is being staged at

02 September 2013   Photos courtesy Joburg Theatre Lighting Designer Declan Randall wove Robe moving lights into his intricate lighting design for the epic roller-skating Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Starlight Express” staged in The Mandela venue at the Joburg Theatre complex in downtown Johannesburg. Randall was part of a Johannesburg

30 August 2013   DWR Distribution has relocated to Laserpark, Honeydew. The larger premises enable all departments from stores to demonstration and training facilities, to operate under one roof. “A big thank you to MJ Event Gear, Dream Sets and Pan Tilt for allowing us the use of their trucks

19 August 2013   Congratulations to the winner of the DWR t-shirt competition, Leswin Heswick from Vision Media, Cape Town.   The industry was invited to come up with a lighting themed t-shirt. The winner would receive a TitanOne and their design and signature would be printed in bulk and

16 August 2013   Photos courtesy Neal Kernohan New Robe lighting fixtures have been installed in the Cape Town home venue of South Africa’s renowned and innovative Zip Zap Circus School. Zip Zap is a registered non-profit organisation, a circus school, a performance and technical training facility as well as

16 August 2013     DWR Distribution enjoyed a wonderful Mediatech 2013 at the Coca Cola Dome recently. A big thank you to Simon Robinson and his team.   We received an all round positive response from international guests and suppliers who attended the show. Kindly find their feedback below. Thank you to everyone who

13 August 2013   Twenty thousand excited FC Union Berlin fans packed into their An der Alten  Fösterei Stadium to watch a specially commissioned show to officially inaugurate their new grandstand. The 20 minute spectacle was creatively directed by Gerald Ponesky and Uwe “Leo” Auerswald for producers the Compact Team,

06 August 2013   Two leading technical production companies – Mauritius based Impact Production Group and Johannesburg based Multi-Media – joined forces to provide design services and full technical production for a recent exclusive four-day conference and incentive event on the vibrant and beautiful island of Mauritius. Five sites were

26 July 2013   West London based lighting rental company Colour Sound Experiment (CSE) supplied lighting equipment, LED screen and crew to Lighting Designer Rich Gilson for the recent Die Antwoord (The Answer) show at London’s Brixton Academy. The South African Zef rap-ravers Ninja and Yolandi Vi$$er have a massive

24 July 2013      While we await our new office telephone number, please feel welcome to contact our sales and technical team on their mobile numbers: Sales Enquiries Dave Whitehouse / 082 417 8596 /dave@delano.server.rcm-test-web.co.za Duncan Riley / 082 699 7355 / duncan@staging.dwrdistribution.co.za Keith Pugin / 082 077 1807 / keith@staging.dwrdistribution.co.za Nicolet