Robe moving lights took centerstage for the most recent series of “Let’s Dance” in Slovakia on Markiza TV. Director of Photography Vlado Valko used rental company Q-99’s new Robe ROBIN 300 fixtures for the weekly show set at the Incheba Expo in Bratislava.
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Robe moving lights took center stage for the most recent series of “Let’s Dance” in Slovakia, where celebrities paired with professional dancers battle it out on the dance floor every Friday night on Markiza TV.
The venue for the 2011 series was the Incheba Expo in Bratislava, with lighting equipment supplied by Slovakia’s rental company, Q-99, which has more than 400 Robe fixtures in its hire stock.
Director of Photography Vlado Valko used Q-99’s new Robe ROBIN 300 Beams. Q-99 was an early adopter of the Robe brand and has been a loyal user and exponent ever since. A major new investment in the latest Robe ROBIN fixtures is helping to service their very busy autumn/winter show schedule, which also includes “Slovakia’s “Pop Legend” and “What Is My Hit” in the Czech Republic. “With the new ROBIN series, Robe has really taken the concept of moving lights to a new level,” enthuses Q-99’s Martin Kubanka.
The Let’s Dance set resembled a ‘classic romantic’ ballroom scene with glitz and glamour, and comes complete with a set of Swarovski crystal chandeliers, which flew in and out throughout the broadcast. The lighting was a mix of intimate low key highlighting and big, bold, brassy looks, so the rig needed to deliver a wide range of different moods to match the many genres of dance embraced over the 12 weeks.
Q-99 actually supplied full technical production for the show including an extensive trussing infrastructure and lots of scenic LED elements.
At one end of the room was the band stage, flanked either side by a set of sweeping entrance stairways. On trussing above the orchestra were 16 Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs and 20 Robe ROBIN 300 Beams. On the side trusses running down the long edges of the room were 18 Robe ColorSpot 575E ATs, used for strong cross washes and for texturing the dance floor with gobo patterns.
The fixtures also illuminated the arch set piece between the two staircases which featured a prominent ‘Let’s Dance’ logo, and did all the tight key lighting required in the center of the floor.
Ten ColorSpot 250E ATs were hung under the stairs on either side of the orchestra, used for shooting bright little side beams into the audience and down along the dance floor.
It is the first time that moving/effects light operator Michal Schmidt had used the ROBIN 300 Beams. He says, “They are definitely the best beam light fixtures I have used to date, with a great output and fast movement, which is always a massive advantage.” He operated the lights using one of Q-99’s new grandMA2 full size consoles, with Tomas Lecky operating all the video elements using another grandMA2.
Q-99 project manager Marek Adamik comments, “The challenge was making it look different from the last series, while retaining certain key threads that identify it as ‘Let’s Dance’. Using the new ROBIN 300 Beams certaily helped in this process.”
He adds that it was good to see so much collaboration in creating an overall visual theme, which has involved teamwork between Valko, Lecky and Schmidt, as well as director, Peter Nunez.
