Madagascar Circus Show © Beto Carrero World publicity
Located in Penha, Santa Caterina, Brazil, Beto Carrero World is the largest theme park in South America. Amongst its many attractions is the big, bright and colourful Madagascar Circus Show, a musical extravaganza themed on the third in the children’s film series Madagascar, in which the characters dance and perform incredible circus stunts.
© Beto Carrero World
Over 30 artists work to create this energy-filled spectacle against a backdrop of 120 square metres of LED screens. With a show of this size and vividness, a powerful followspot was needed to deliver enough emphasis and delineation for the amazing performers and their acts. Bring on the dancing Robert Juliat Arthur followspot, an 800W LED powerhouse which answered all the fun-filled challenges the flamboyant circus show could throw at it!
MADAGASCAR CIRCUS SHOW (1) © Beto Carrero World publicity
Two of the Arthur 1014 models – in the first ever installation for Brazil – were supplied to the venue by Lighting Bits LTDA, Robert Juliat’s exclusive distributor for Brazil.
© Daniel Ridano, Courtesy of Lighting Bits
© Daniel Ridano, Courtesy of Lighting Bits
Aldonir da Silva Junior, lighting designer at Beto Carrero World for 28 years, explains why they chose these followspot superheroes: “Here, at the Madagascar Circus Show, we have throw distances of approximately 35m-40m. We found our previous followspot fixtures weren’t capable of the required efficiency, especially in relation to the lighting and the brightness of the LED panels. That’s when we decided to go with Robert Juliat followspots, a brand with a long tradition in this type of equipment. We invested in two Arthur LED 800W, our first Robert Juliat purchase, and are very pleased with them.
© Daniel Ridano, Courtesy of Lighting Bits
© Daniel Ridano, Courtesy of Lighting Bits
The Robert Juliat followspots proved ideal for the show’s long throw distances but Arthur’s features were also a hit, for both live shows and on camera: “The dimmer on this model has always caught my attention,” says Aldonir. “We don’t find it in other followspots and the dimming is extremely precise. Another key feature is Arthur’s DMX in and out connections, as well as sACN. These allow the operator to control the fixture directly from the console, with the possibility of adjusting the dimmer, which is a great advantage for a Director of Photography. The iris is simply fantastic, and the GT4000 tripods, which we also purchased, have a much sturdier structure and provide smoother and more comfortable operation.
© Daniel Ridano, Courtesy of Lighting Bits
“It’s an excellent followspot and the equipment is very complete. We are truly satisfied with our new followspots here at Beto Carrero World.”
The show’s resident followspot operators – Jean Carlos Savedra, José Roberto de Souza Silva, Wesley Gabriel Castro dos Santos and Rafael de Souza Neves – had this to say about their new Arthur followspots: “We’ve never seen a fixture quite like Arthur. We are totally in love with it!”
“Robert Juliat Arthur is a new generation of followspots from the masters of followspot design and build,” says Daniel Ridano, Managing Director at Lighting Bits. “We have a long-standing relationship with Robert Juliat and are proud to be able to provide Beto Carrero World with the first Arthur fixtures in South America as a perfect solution to the demands of this fast-paced and delightfully entertaining show.”
The Madagascar Circus Show runs daily at Beto Carrero World from 4pm.
