MEXICO CITY – The Mexican government sponsored a range of festivities celebrating 200 years of independence and the 100-year anniversary of the Mexican revolution, culminating in two separate events held in the main plaza of the capital, El Zócalo. The Bicentennial, a two-day fiesta of light and music, was enjoyed by thousands of Mexican revelers, and broadcast live to millions around the world. The production and creative team included Ric Birch, Marco Balich of Filmmaster Group, LD Victor Zapatero and lighting director Durham Marenghi.
The team also drew on the creative ideas of several leading Mexican directors, designers, choreographers, artists and writers. Eventually more than 400 staff and 7,000 volunteers joined forces to present one of the largest spectaculars that Mexico City has ever seen.
The event involved three massive concert stages in the heart of the city, and a parade of 7,000 performers and dancers that took more than two hours to make its way along the Reforma Avenue toward El Zocalo, the capital's main plaza overlooked by the National Palace, the Cathedral and government buildings.
Thousands then gathered at the main Zócalo plaza, where President Felipe Calderon would later deliver the traditional Grito – three shouts of "Viva Mexico" – to celebrate the 1810 uprising that resulted in independence from Spain.
LD Victor Zapatero was tasked with lighting this vast, complex arrangement of stages, performers and historical buildings, as well as some 70,000 spectators that gathered and became themselves part of the performance. "My role was to find the best solution to light the show, select the best equipment, organize a team of programmers and suppliers … and then pray that everything would be alright on the night!"
Zapatero selected 100 Clay Paky Alpha Beam 1500s and 74 Alpha Spot HPE 1500s, recently introduced into the Mexican market by Hermes Music through local production company Luzmila.
"I was given a very convincing presentation of the Alphas by Bruno Santaguida of Luzmila", said Zapatero. "I was immediately struck by the long range of their beams, which could reach right across the 200-meter-wide plaza without any loss of power.
"Another thing that surprised me was the precision of the beams. All movements were slick and accurate. And the image quality of the gobos was perfectly clear. Thanks to the commitment of Luzmila, we were able to secure a record quantity of 1500s – the most used in Mexico to date."
Durham Marenghi, who supervised the lighting for broadcast, had previously used Alpha 1500s for the U.K. music show, Classical Spectacular, and credited them for being "incredible units, immensely powerful yet delicately refined. Although they're incredibly bright, you can still achieve pin-sharp projections."
Image clarity turned out to be an essential requirement, since part of Zapatero's concept required being able to project a series of intricately detailed Mexican and Mayan patterns, marking different phases of the show. U.K.-based Projected Image produced a total of over 460 custom gobos.
The concept involved immersing the viewing public in a sea of light, and wrapping them in a panorama of richly-lit performances and buildings. "I wanted them to feel part of a majestic and unforgettable scene, to let them feel moved by the light," said Zapatero.
"In fact, people already started to celebrate during the rehearsals before the event, so we had a good idea that people were going to be impressed. But on the night, the excitement was incredible. The impact of the light left people speechless as they entered the Zocalo that night."
Zapatero paid tribute to a number of collaborators and partners, including his assistants and programming team who worked on wysiwyg and grandMA controls. He credited Durham Marenghi, "a valuable partner and friend," and suppliers Simply Professional and Luzmila.
Juan Perches of Hermes Music added, "We feel an immense sense of pride in having been part of such a historic occasion. The events were marked by a high level of cooperation and camaraderie between the various teams and partners. We couldn't have wished for a more visible or successful introduction of the Clay Paky Alphas in the Mexican market."
"Ultimately, successes like these derive from an intense focus on the needs of the end-user and a great relationship with our distributors," added Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky manager for the Americas. "A huge thank you must go to Hermes Music," crediting the newcomer to Clay Paky's distribution network for great progress within the past year.
For more information, please visit www.claypaky.it.
