Lighting on pointe | October 2018 | LSi

IN THE NEWS

Lighting on pointe [Switzerland] Béjart Ballet has been a cultural mainstay at Lausanne for over 30 years.

Founded by the late choreographer Maurice Béjart (1927-2007), the company is now headed by artistic director Gil Roman, with Théâtre de Beaulieu its home base and creative hub.

The company spends a large part of each year touring its extensive repertoire around Europe and the world and, where possible, it tours with its own lighting rig. Among its equipment are ETC Source Fours, used for front light and the wing positions so important for the lighting of dance; Ayrton RGBW LED washlights, Philips Selecon PLCyc units and an overhead rig of automated fixtures.

Béjart Ballet Lausanne has been a long-time user of Philips Vari-Lite luminaires.

Until recently its workhorse automated fixture was the VL3500Q, chosen for its framing blade system. “It was a great machine,” says technical director Lucas Borgeaud, “but it gave us some problems.” Two problems, in fact - noise and heat. “Sometimes the moving light can stay closed with the lamp on for one hour, or more,” says Borgeaud. “And with the old HMI lamp, and the heat, it was a lottery if the light would work, you know? ‘OK, will it be here? Maybe not. Oh cool, it’s here!’”

While the risk of lamp failure is an issue for everyone, the biggest headache for resident lighting designer Dominique Roman has always been fan noise. “We work in small theatres, generally, with classical music, with quiet moments,” she explains. “The noise from the [VL3500Q] could make it complicated to organise between the artistic director and me. It was an additional worry and stress.”

With the VLZ’s sealed liquid cooling system, noise in operation is minimal. “Not having this stress is a huge advantage,” says Roman.

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OCTOBER 2018 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

Photos: Gregory_Batardon

LSi discovers how Béjart Ballet’s performances gained new intensity and flexibility thanks to the latest LED stage lighting technology . . .

However, the law of unintended consequences applies, as Borgeaud points out. “Now it’s totally silent - it’s funny, but we have another problem: we can hear everybody backstage.”

The company had been waiting for a suitable upgrade fixture. “We were looking at the LED market for some time,” says Borgeaud. “And one day, there was the VLZ. It was the VL3500 with LEDs, exactly what we needed. So, we contacted the Swiss distributor for Vari-Lite, IQ Unlimited, and took 20 VLZ Profiles for the new season. Now it’s six months that we have had them, and we have never had a problem. The service guys are quite ‘on holiday’ now with

the new VLZ. It was the right choice.”

Roman is delighted with the difference made by the new fixtures. “Not having this noise is a huge advantage,” she says, noting that the silence brings added flexibility to luminaire positioning. While the VL3500Qs would be as far up in the roof as possible, the VLZs can be placed anywhere, even very close to the stage in the wing positions, if required.

Feature-wise, the VLZs offer the same colour capability as the VL3500Q, using the three-filter CMY mechanism plus variable CTO control, applied over the 8000K colour temperature white light LED

B Béjart Ballet performs Ku (top) and Syncope

C Lighting designer Dominique Roman and technical director Lucas Borgeaud

source, and meticulously engineered to deliver the colours expected of a Vari-Lite.

They are also used to provide specific colour washes where required. “In one of the ballets, Gil Roman’s Syncope, there’s a special colour, a kind of red,” says Borgeaud. “It’s based on a costume, so it’s very specific, and we need to wash this colour on the floor. With RGB washlights, it’s not possible to produce this, but with the trichroma system of the VLZ, it’s just perfect.”

The internal four-blade framing system is also bringing substantial benefits. “The fact that we have blades in all the machines means that I gain time,” says Roman. “I don’t need to plan with my electrician where I need to place the units with blades, as we know we have them everywhere. It is something that is very positive for me.”

The VLZ Profiles are often used to create preciselyframed zones on the stage, or to highlight strips of the dance area to complement the

choreography. “For example, in this ballet we have a rope coming diagonally across the stage,” says Borgeaud, “and using the blades of just two VLZs overhead, we can light this 20 metres of rope perfectly.”

The high colour temperature white light output of the VLZ is often used in combination with the warmer tones from ETC Source Fours, providing contrasting shades between side- and top-light. The 8˚-50˚ zoom, meanwhile, combined with the fixture’s two internal frosts allows this nominally ‘profile’ luminaire to be employed as a very effective washlight, giving another layer of creative options to the lighting team.

At other times, the VLZs are used to provide defocused gobo breakup patterns across the dance floor, or for gobo projection onto scenic elements.

Borgeaud explains: “We use it like a profile, with the blades; we use it for gobo washes and we can use it also like a standard wash because, with the two

frosts inside you can have a really soft light on the floor. It’s like we have a Swiss Army Knife, a multi-functional tool that can do everything that we need. You have an idea - can you do this?

Yeah, you can do it.”

Commenting on the output of the VLZ in comparison to the VL3500Q, Borgeaud says: “The last time we played this ballet was with VL3500Q and now we really see the difference. With the VLZ, we have a lot more power, which is really cool.

Sometimes we needed more intensity and we didn’t have it.

Now we have it.”

All in all, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne team is more than satisfied with their decision to make the move to the VLZ and the latest LED stage lighting technology. Roman adds: “I am delighted that we have invested in these fixtures, as they benefit me technically, visually and aesthetically, and the artistic director also greatly benefits.

The quality, the ease of use and particularly the silence of the machine, is something very important for us." I P www.vari-lite.com

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