Rock the Ballet X

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ROCK THE BALLET X

Collien Konzert & Theater’s famed production celebrates a decade on-stage by creating a fresh new touring production with the aid of Woodroffe Bassett Design’s Roland Greil.

When the name Woodroffe Bassett Design graces TPi’s pages, it’s usually to discuss one of its latest ventures in the world of live concert touring - working with the likes of Phil Collins, Adele and The Rolling Stones in recent years. However, this month the creative powerhouse discusses its latest collaboration with German production, Rock The Ballet X. With the goal of breaking the traditional conventions, the show, for over 10 years has produced rousing show experiences to bring a new generation of faces into the world of dance.

“It’s something completely different from our usual rock concerts,” began Lighting Designer, Roland Greil. “It was a really interesting project to work on and a case study of the kind of show you can produce when you have a great team.”

This was not the first time that Woodroffe Bassett Design had crossed

paths with the dance company, having helped produced their production of Romeo and Juliet back in 2013. Just like that production, Rock the Ballet is not your traditional dance show. “It’s a mixture of ballet, martial arts along with modern and contemporary dance,” explained Greil. “All the dancers in the company are classically trained but moved into this more contemporary field.” The music in Rock the Ballet X consisted of modern rock and pop tracks along with some gems from the past such as Symphony for the Devil by The Rolling Stones and Rocket Man by Elton John [coincidently two acts that Woodroffe Bassett as history with].

Joining forces with Director and Choreographer, Adrienne Caterna, Greil and his long time right hand man, Lighting Programmer Luke Radin, started on this “incredibly collaborative process”. Greil elaborated: “The company already had some ideas from previous shows they wanted to pay

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ROCK THE BALLET X

homage to in this tenth anniversary along with some songs they wanted to be included in the production. But on the whole they were very open minded to our ideas.”

One of Greil’s main concerns with the show design was to have a set, which could change for different tracks. “We ended up utilising quite a simple illusion with 10 Robe StageBanner 50ATs.” These were laid out upstage, each one supporting a panel which was black one side with a projection surface on the other.” These double-sided panels were controlled from FOH, meaning the show designer could opt whether to have video content on the panels or turned to black to create stronger lighting looks. “Along with those two looks we could also turn the panels 90° to reveal our large upstage matrix of 45 LED Pars. I was very happy with what we were able to produce with the panels, giving us the ability to radically change the stage set for each performance.”

The main workhorse fixture on Greil’s lighting spec was 67 Claypaky Scenius Unicos all of which were provided by lighting supplier, Showconcept. “We opted to have one main fixture on this one and the Scenius Unicos was the natural choice. They are versatile enough to be a great wash light, as well as providing a good spot and beam functionality. Also on the lighting rig was a Robert Juliat Aramis.

“It depends on the track, but ultimately we have three different ways to light the performers,” commented Greil. “The first is the classic side

light which we achieved with four rows of 3 Unicos on each side of the stage. This look is usually achieved with ETC Source Fours, but we opted to use the Unicos in this position as it gave us more options in terms of colours and looks. We also had an advanced truss which held 9 Unicos for some key lighting. Then finally we had the Aramis spot out front.”

For control, the production opted for an MA Lighting grandMA2. “It was the natural choice as myself, my programmer Luke Radin and the show’s Lighting Director, Tanja Arends console of choice is MA. It meant we all spoke the same language when it came to produce this show in a very short time scale.”

Collectively, the LD explained how the show was put together in two and a half days. “It was certainly a quick turn around and I think we ended up with 550 cues for the whole show. I have to take my hat of to Luke, my programmer who was integral in helping bring this show into reality. Also Tanja the director who has now taken the show on the road picked up this design very quickly.”

After its debut in Hamberg, the ballet toured through Europe finishing this current run in regions throughout France till the end of February 2019. TPi Photos: Manfred H. Bird www.rock-the-ballet.de www.woodroffebassett.com

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