Over 350
Robe fixtures rocked the main stage of the 2016 Mayday dance event at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund,
Germany, specified by lighting designer Ronnie Santegoeds from Netherlands
based 4Light, who was asked to create a jaw-droppingly memorable lightshow by promoters,
I-Motion.
Ronnie is
a regular LD for Dutch hardstyle dance producer / promoter Art of Dance, which
whom I-Motion co-promoted the most recent Syndicate event at the same venue.
On the
strength of his work for that event, he was invited to produce the production lighting
design this leading house / trance phenomena.
The Robe
count was impressive – 202 x Pointes, 121 x LEDWash 800s and 28 x CycFX 8s –
all supplied by leading Netherlands based rental company, The Purple Group.
Ronnie
created the visual design – lighting and video – working with Chris Das who coordinated
the technical preparations for lighting supplier, Purple Group from Schijndel, Netherlands.
The two frequently
work together, so there’s lots of creative synergy, teamwork and a fluid workflow
when it comes to designing environments like this. The brief from I-Motion outlined
the large scale ‘arena feel’ that they wanted for the show, which was
relatively straightforward in terms of structure.
However,
making it look good and last over several hours of non-stop pumping hose and
trance music is a lot harder than many imagine!
“We
wanted to involve the whole venue in the lighting and visuals show” explained
Ronnie, “The stage needed to look massive, so we based the design on a series
of circles and lights blasting energy out into the crowds and drawing everyone
in to the stage set up while simultaneously making the whole room look more
interesting”.
The stage
was framed by three large horizontal curved trusses – the largest measuring 20 metres and the smallest 10 metres.
There were four circular trusses –
measuring 30, 15, 10 and 8 metres – positioned above the 20,000 audience.
Most of
the LEDWash 800s were installed behind the over-stage trussing circles and used
to shine through and highlight the shapes.
The
Pointes were scattered all over the trussing circles, and used for effects
lighting shooting all around the venue.
“The
Pointe is light in weight and highly versatile” states Ronnie, “The prisms are
great as are the frost and zoom functions, and they are perfect for lighting
this style of event”.
The most
galvanising aspect of lighting a show like this is having enough variety on the
lighting rig to deal with the myriad of musical styles embraced. Key considerations
when lighting a hi-energy dance show like this are having a large number of
fixtures to provide spectacular back lighting looks for the stage and those eye-catching,
all-enveloping scenes scooping the audience up in the action that Ronnie mentions
above as well as having enough latitude to also provide good set illumination
and varied general show lighting.
The LEDWash
800 Ronnie thinks is “punchy”, compact and has a good output.
Lighting
for the Mayday 2016 event Main Stage was programmed and operated by Bas
Knappers from Netherlands based creative production company, Live Legends.
Ronnie, a
freelance lighting professional for 10 years, first used Robe products in the
early years of the brand with the ‘XT’ series, which was followed by the AT series
when that was launched in the mid-noughties. He now frequently uses the latest Robe
products in his designs.
He’s more
recently visited the Robe manufacturing facility in the Czech Republic and is
“very impressed” with the way the process is managed. “Robe is producing a many
versatile products and it’s clear they are interested in the end users and
their needs and requirements.” He concludes.
Photos : Ralph Larmann
