CHICAGO — For Studio One Dance Theatre (SODT)’s annual theatrical production showcasing the talents of close to 400 student dancers from preschool through their 20s, Jason Reberski of JR Lighting Design, Inc. (Orland Park, IL) opted to incorporate seven of Elation Professional’s Design Spot 1200C DMX moving heads.
The production, staged at the 1,200-seat Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University, is a three-to-four-hour show that has been described as “part musical, part play and part dance performance,” featuring a mix of styles ranging from classical ballet to modern dance and jazz – and even hip-hop.
“The show is a mix of elements,” said Reberski. “It’s very theatrical at times, and at other times it’s very flashy and kind of ‘in your face.’ The thought was to use a fixture that could handle all of that.”
The Design Spot 1200C DMX’s features that include the ability to function as both a spot and wash effect via application of a variable frost filter, CMY color mixing with CTO, two gobo wheels, two rotating prisms, an animation wheel and a wireless DMX receiver, all in a compact case the size of a typical 700-watt fixture.
“I replaced some of the original moving heads [in the rig] with the Design Spots when I found they were available from another dealer here in Chicago,” said Reberski. “I had heard and read rave reviews about the Design Spot 1200C that had greatly impressed me. So I decided to take out some of [the other fixtures] and put Design Spots in their place as a trial.”
About a week’s worth of preparation went into setting up the production, then four performances are given over the course of a weekend. The Design Spot 1200C, Reberski said, passed with flying colors. “Four out of eight of the (other manufacturer’s) moving heads had major problems, and three of those units had to be replaced on the second day. But the Design Spot 1200Cs were absolutely flawless in performance and capabilities. They were truly my workhorse fixtures. I pushed them very hard for a week, and they just kept on performing. If I would have had a complete Design Spot 1200C rig, it would have saved many, many headaches in terms of reliability.”
Along with reliability, Reberski credited the Design Spot 1200Cs for “great optics, great gobos” and “the CMY color mixing is perfect. I was very impressed that the Design Spots could handle the theatrical cueing with precision and finesse as well as the flashier ‘bumps’ and chases. Plus it’s got more features than many other fixtures in its category, such as Frost, CTO, an Animation Wheel and Wireless DMX. And it’s tiny, the size of most 700-watt fixtures, yet it delivers 1,200W brightness. When they say ‘1200 Compact,’ they mean it!”
Executive director Pamela Avery and production director Andre Robinson noted that this year’s show relied more heavily upon lighting for establishment of mood and location than in years past, due to a minimalist scenic approach, Reberski continued, adding that “many of the dynamic, theatrical lighting aspects of the show were made possible by the Design Spot 1200C’s vast feature-set and high performance.” He also credited the fixture for its “incredible” price.
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