Dance Lighting

[SteveB]

I’ve been implementing these ideas and the lighting plot for this dance recital is beginning to take shape!
Now I am wondering, in which situation would you choose each of these side lights (shin, mid, top and pipe ends)? Or when to combine them.
Regards, Jo

- Pipe -Ends, are great for when you need some area control. If you have the units & dimmers as well as the space to hang enough gear, you can do L-C-R high sides and highlight a particular area. Because of the steeper angle, pipe ends do not cover as much of the stage width, thus to get a full wash (if desired) you need more units (3 at my house) then those at a lower angle. I typically focus our P/E's as the narrow unit from center line to far, the wider and off-stage unit as close 1/4 line to fill into the narrow unit - if not attempting area control.

- Mid and Tops, to me, are just variations on the same thing. We have flying ladders that allow a variation on angle, but typically have a 26 deg. as the far shot with a 36 deg. as the close/short, all as a L/R wash. Since you can't cram all the gear into one place, you end up with some units higher or lower then others. If possible you do a double unit wash, with a narrower deg. unit mounted higher and focused far, a wider beamed unit mounted lower to focus "short", in the same color (with a similar angle from both units). Repeating for as many units, dimmers and positions as you can achieve.

- Shins and double shins are used when you want to fill in under dancers arms and the body and can be shutter-cut (if an ellipsoidal) off the floor, which creates a sense of the dancer floating in space. Shins and head high's can also have their color changed between or even during pieces, which is very useful.

 

[joble]

Thanks Steve. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together for me now.

Is it correct of to say pipe ends are necessary when larger groups of dancers are on the stage, because dancers cast shadows on each other when mids/tops are used? Or am i wrong...

 

[StradivariusBone]

This thread is a great resource, one that I've been using with for a few upcoming dance shows myself, so thank you to all for your advice so far. Our theatre has two galleries above the stage (approx. 10-12' off the deck, and 6' outside the proscenium arch. Our proscenium is 40' across. Would this function for adequate high side fill? I'm not sure what's standard for boom placement, but how far outside the arch do you all typically place them? These have railings that were designed to hold fixtures and we have stage pin connections up there as well.

Thanks!

-ED

 

[SteveB]

@joble

Yes, Pipe ends are useful for isolating, but the angle, being steeper, is not as good at lighting the dancers body in a manner that lets the body pop from the background. Mostly as you are not getting light under the arms and legs, when they're extended. In general, lower angles do cause shadows and that's a consideration if all the dancers are static in a line. Typically though dance is more fluid and there's movement, so the shadows don't become as much an issue. As well covering a stage with pipe ends takes more fixtures per pipe and you can run into issues with the electrics having room for all the "systems" of side light you need. As well, if the electrics are not that long and don't extend far into the wings (ours go off maybe 8 ft from onstage edge of the legs), the angle from the extreme tips is often fairly steep for the near shot. In essence you just run out of room, which is why booms are common.

@ Ed.

If your dance area and floor is extended downstage of the proscenium, you can have problems getting the dancers lit from the side. The ideal is a set of box booms set into the proscenium arch that provides for a continuation of your onstage systems, floor to full height. Very few spaces are designed well enough to allow that, so you typically see a position that is too far DS to work well as a side system continuation and the angle really only works well as a diagonal front of some kind.

I see and do it both ways, as our box booms "mostly" work OK as an apron side. They are fully 16 ft. DS of the side position in our 1st wing and are 8 ft DS of our P/L, is a vertical position that allows 10 units in (mostly ) in pairs, starting +13 ft off the deck. I cannot replicate our 7ft side towers that have dual head-hi's and dual shins and that's the compromise. They certainly help when we have dancers heading DS that far, but some companies are smart and put down a tape at P/L to indicate the "light line" that the dancers "shouldn't" cross.

 

[JonasA]

Re boom visibility: Lighting dancers in a university setting, the LDs and SMs are religious in glow-taping the heck out of every bit of the booms. Last time I looked, it was expected that any fixture hung on booms had:

• Glow tape on the gel frame facing on stage
• Glow tape on upstage side, usually on focus knobs to avoid over-heating (and subsequent melting)
• Glow tape on end of boom arm and possibly along the length
• Glow tape on the back of the fixture (usually focus handle for melting reasons)
• Huge strip of white spike tape right up the boom on the off-stage side.

This is for semi-professional dancers who are used to the venue... and they still hit them often enough for us to facepalm when it happens.

Also: I second floobydust's recommendation of ladders. Having the vertical bars on the sides means you get less touching and accidental bumping into fixtures, and if they're flown you can actually fly them out for big entrances/exits. This has been a godsend in a large musical I do annually where we bring them in to 1' off the deck for dance numbers, and keep them at 7' for the 125-cast entrances/exits.

 

[SteveB]

Re boom visibility: Lighting dancers in a university setting, the LDs and SMs are religious in glow-taping the heck out of every bit of the booms. Last time I looked, it was expected that any fixture hung on booms had:

• Glow tape on the gel frame facing on stage
• Glow tape on upstage side, usually on focus knobs to avoid over-heating (and subsequent melting)
• Glow tape on end of boom arm and possibly along the length
• Glow tape on the back of the fixture (usually focus handle for melting reasons)
• Huge strip of white spike tape right up the boom on the off-stage side.

This is for semi-professional dancers who are used to the venue... and they still hit them often enough for us to facepalm when it happens.

.

We also have 8 big arrows made with glow ltape spare squares of dance floor. We tape these in the wings to indicate to the dancers where to head around a tower.

 

[MNicolai]

Re boom visibility: Lighting dancers in a university setting, the LDs and SMs are religious in glow-taping the heck out of every bit of the booms. Last time I looked, it was expected that any fixture hung on booms had:

• Glow tape on the gel frame facing on stage
• Glow tape on upstage side, usually on focus knobs to avoid over-heating (and subsequent melting)
• Glow tape on end of boom arm and possibly along the length
• Glow tape on the back of the fixture (usually focus handle for melting reasons)
• Huge strip of white spike tape right up the boom on the off-stage side.

This is for semi-professional dancers who are used to the venue... and they still hit them often enough for us to facepalm when it happens.

Also: I second floobydust's recommendation of ladders. Having the vertical bars on the sides means you get less touching and accidental bumping into fixtures, and if they're flown you can actually fly them out for big entrances/exits. This has been a godsend in a large musical I do annually where we bring them in to 1' off the deck for dance numbers, and keep them at 7' for the 125-cast entrances/exits.

That's excessive.

I generally tape arrows on the floor to mark the traffic lanes on and off stage and leave it at that. Whenever there are dark scenes that may make the booms harder for dancers to see, I'll glow heads or mids at 5%. Just enough light for someone looking directly into the lens to see, but not so much it alters the visuals to the audience.

Only thing I'd tape on the booms might be shutters that protrude out into the lanes. If the lights are on, even at 3% or 5%, and someone is dancing off-stage, and they still don't see the booms, no amount of glow tape is going to help them.

Nothing will make up for performers having spatial awareness of their surroundings.

 

[benoit]

Nothing will make up for performers having spatial awareness of their surroundings.

I second that. No matter how much padding/glow tape you put, its up to the dancer to see it. The only thing you can do is to show them the potential issues and to setup time to refocus before/after each show.

 

[techieman33]

I just had a tour in that used rope lights in the wings to draw out a safe path to quick change rooms. The same could be done in the wings around your booms.

 

[joble]

I'm considering to use pars or parnells or eventually PC's for the top and mid boom positions and S4's as shins.

Do i need to use tophats for those top/mids?

 

[SteveB]

I'm considering to use pars or parnells or eventually PC's for the top and mid boom positions and S4's as shins.

Do i need to use tophats for those top/mids?

If the units are visible from the audience and you don't want to see the lens, then sure, use top hats. Note that they do nothing to shape the beam otherwise. Barn doors on S4 Pars can be useful, but pretty much only on very wides or wides. You will have no control over where the light falls otherwise, so if you can live with the light on the proscenium arch walls, or on the backdrop/cyc, then Pars are useful. I have on occasion put S4 Pars with medium lenses into a +4 ft position on our dance towers, the LD wanted a blast of light fromt he wings. Rhe beam shape went vertical so there was not much spill on the Prosc. or US scrim.

 

[joble]

. I like pipe ends in an unsaturated color with a breakup gobo, as this adds highlight to the dancers, a little movement to the light, and paints the floor nicely.

I know it is not the best way, but can i use some of the 2kW FOH lamps with these breakup gobo's, when additional pipe-ends aren't possible?

 

[TheaterEd]

I would be hesitant to do that since the breakup would likely be visible on the cyc and would create shadows on their faces. Also, they would have to be the only front light on in order to have much of a noticeable effect and I don't feel like it would give you the desired look.

I've been wrong before though, might be worth your time to set it up and see how you like it. Whenever I deal with dance groups I like to have more options available than I will need so that when a number is missing 'something' I can throw up a couple of different options.

 

[joble]

On the internet I've found several light plots for dance shows, all using only the FOH position for front washes for the whole depth of the stage (30 ft).
Is it common in dance lighting that the proscenium bridge is not used for frontwashes, contrary to play lighting?

 

[SteveB]

On the internet I've found several light plots for dance shows, all using only the FOH position for front washes for the whole depth of the stage (30 ft).
Is it common in dance lighting that the proscenium bridge is not used for frontwashes, contrary to play lighting?

I think it's common to always have some form of FOH, either from coves/bridge as well as an on-stage electric, so as to have some system that can light dancers faces when needed. How many washes and colors is specific to the dance(s), with usefulness being dependent on angle. My FOH coves are a very steep angle that can cover the DS 1/3 of the stage and when I design and/or adapt a plot, if possible I will add either 1 Elec washe(s) that repeat the FOH and occasionally will repeat again from my 3 Elec. If I'm doing that much frontal lighting it's typically for events where I know I need to see dancers faces and can/have to live with some (or a lot) of spill on the cyc. If I can use a black scrim DS of the cyc light electric, all the better as it reduces the bounce off the floor from the FOH. My cove units, as BTW get US shutter cuts off the scrim (if used) or cyc, so as to eliminate light on the CY as much as possible. You will always get bounce flare, but it comes with the territory. The advantage of having a Cove/Bridge wash, is you can still use it for curtain calls if nothing else.

I have seen some companies - Martha Graham, as example, that has a lavender FOH from coves only and pretty much never uses it. That's a modern dance company so the lighting tends to be less "play" like. I've also had the old Joffrey II company doing ballets that did 3 FOH colors, repeating on 1 Elec, with L-C-R separation, as they needed to see faces and needed area control to limit spill on the cyc. Then I did last week, Krasnyoyarsk Siberian company that is all folk dancing and wanted a ton of FOH all the time.

So the best answer is to plan on some FOH, a Lavender is a good choice if equipment is limited, as a CYA for when the choreographer suddenly decides they need to see facial expressions.

 

[Floobydust]

As a lavender, I've use Rosco 54 with good results (not a big fan of warm/cool).

 

[joble]

I have enough FOH units to do 3 different color washes (4x2kW per wash). I was thinking to use pink, lavender and maybe something more neutral like a pale gold.

I'll first double check the angle of the cove is not too steep, so I can reach the entire upstage area from the cove.

If necessary I'll repeat the most important front wash (the pale golden?) from the 1st electric. If not, I can use these units as pipe ends...

Does this make sence???

 

[SteveB]

I wouldn't be doing 2 warm colors, unless a dance piece really required that ability to change the skin tone (or a different costume) by going from a pink to an amber/gold. Light blue might be far more useful, especially if you have blue backs and sides, as then the Lt blue FOH stays within the cool palette for that piece of section of cues.

Then it's your choice as to how much FOH is needed and if you were short on systems of side light and could readily move instruments, I'd do the single R54 like Floobydust recommended and add sides. Remember as well the trick about lavenders (like R54) , when you have a predominant warm wash on stage and add lavender, it tends to read cool. Likewise if there's a cool look on stage the lavender tends to read warm, all being among the reasons LD's like it for a single FOH system color choice.

 

[joble]

Indeed, my color choice was not very well considered.

I have plenty of units in the cove that i cannot move. That is why i use 3 color washes from there. So maybe i can do light blue, pale gold and a dark blue for night scene.
There are also some fixed units in box booms that i would like to use as a wash of a saturated color to combine with low sides.

The units i planned to use to repeat the frontlight at the first electric, will be uses as sidelights.

 

[joble]

I can use an additional set of 30 pcs Elation OPTI TRI 30. (10deg beam angle - 7x 3-in-1 RGB LED - 21W)

I've been thinking to use these as top light for the stage (35 feet wide by 20 feet deep + 6 feet apron). If this would work, I have plenty of extra units for the sides!

But I am doubting whether the OPTI TRI 30 is suitable for this... The 10° beam angle is too narrow, but with a simple frost filter it might be ok... But would the light output be sufficient for this stage? It is very tricky to compare to conventional fixtures.