![]() While sidelight is a primary tool in dance lighting, at a more basic level the use of different angles in dance is often treated in a more minimalist or poetic manner than one finds in a play or musical or television. In dance, to show off the musculature and movement, we rely primarily on sidelight positions. While in a play, where our concern is dialogue and plot, we focus on faces through the use of frontlighting. The Angles of Danceīecause our interest in dance is based first on movement, the lighting must be grounded in an approach that seeks out interesting ways to reveal that moving body. Should the cyc not be used for a particular piece, there is a black curtain immediately downstage of the Cyc. The wings and dance floor are black and there is often a white cyc in the background. These low hung units allow for color changes between pieces in repertory and allows the entire stage space to be filled, with very few lights. Sidelights are hung on the booms and point straight across stage. This typical dance space has several wings, perhaps four per side, with a boom placed in the center of each just out of sitelines. While many of these principals can be applied to classical ballet and some post-modern styles, those forms are not the focus as they demand their own unique approach.įor the purposes of this essay I am assuming the use of a conventional modern dance space. The following essay is written primarily from the perspective of designing for modern dance forms. My background and training as a designer is in modern ballet and post-modern dance. In short, we are concerned with the whole stage and the quality of movement rather than where someone is standing for such and such a monologue. Perhaps there is a large sweeping arc of an entrance that spirals to center for a pirouette where our dancer is joined by a partner who then jaunts about the stage with her. While in all performance mediums our focus is on bodies in space, it is the dance where we focus on where and how that body moves. So much of dance, even when dealing with classical story ballet, comes down to the lighting that one must almost unlearn everything you know about lighting in order to learn how to light for the dance.ĭance lighting is unique among performance disciplines in large part because dance is concerned first and foremost with movement. ![]() Perhaps the closest analogy would be the relationship of the composer to their conductor. ![]() The relationship between a dancer and their light, between a choreographer and their lighting designer, is unique among artistic collaborations. “Dancers live in light as fish live in water.” If you have ever seen a truly first rate dancer glide across the stage effortlessly and with infinite grace, you know what this means. The rest is style and historical aesthetics. These first few sentences are perhaps all one needs to understand the dance. My extraordinary good fortune was that I came along at a point in time when Martha Graham was creating and when Lincoln Kirstein was backing George Balanchine to create new and fresh uses of the ballet form. ~~Jean Rosenthal, The Magic of Light Dance Lighting Lighting the Dance If I leave anything to posterity, it will be, I think, most importantly in the field of dance lighting. ![]() I have designed the decor as well as the lighting for a good many ballets and I have installed the basic systems with which I have worked in dance repertory. Designing for the dance has been my most constant love. Within translucent walls and above the stage floor, the lighting supports their flashing buoyance or their arrested sculptural bodies. The stage space in which they move is their aquarium, their portion of the sea. An great introduction to dance lighting that looks at some history, theory and the use of side light in particular.ĭancers live in light as fish live in water. A guest post from Lucas Krech, a Lighting Designer with a passion for lighting dance performance.
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