Robe iESPRITE LTLs add wonder to winter

“Winter Fairytale” was a popular large‐ scale special production performed by the Ansambel Saša Avsenika at Ljubljana’s Stožice Arena… and the first live music show in Slovenia to feature Robe iESPRITE LTL moving lights, which were newly purchased by rental company Intralite.

Lighting designer Crt Birsa of Blackout Lighting Design had the honour of adding the iESPRITE LTLs to the rig for the Slovenian traditional folk music show, for which lighting was programmed and operated by his Blackout colleague Anže Trstenjak. Crt also designed the stage set together with Greta Godnic.

The 24 x iESPRITE LTLs were a part of an impressive Robe moving light rig. In addition to them were 16 x FORTES, 30 x MegaPointes, 24 x Pointes, 24 x LEDBeam150s, 24 x ParFects, 57 x Spiider LED wash beams and 8 x MMX WashBeams, a classic Robe favourite of Crt’s (before MegaPointe, ESPRITE and FORTE) that he often includes, and in this case, they were highlighting the audience.

Two BMFL WashBeams fitted with LightMaster handles were used for manual follow spots left and right of house in the usual sports camera positions.

Crt – well known for incorporating architectural shapes into stage designs immediately set to work on this, which is how the series of interlocking circles and semi‐circles evolved. He and Greta also suggested having a 10‐metre central round screen after persuading the artists that a larger one would not have the same visual impact.

Sixty‐four rigging points later – a lot for Slovenia – this masterpiece of stagecraft began emerging.

One challenge was to find angled truss connectors to create all the circles onto which Anže and Crt then placed all the lights. Using a combination of art and mathematics, they calculated optimal positioning from an architectural standpoint and also how the luminaires could work most flexibly.

Robe luminaires made up 85% of the rig and the fixtures were used for all the main stage lighting, supported by a bunch of strobes, blinders, and other effects lights.

The Blackout team, including Anže, came in one day before the show day and worked a full‐on 18‐hour shift through the setup, with one night of onsite programming; however, by this time, they had completed a serious amount of previsualisation, which was key to delivering such a slick and impressive show with so little onsite time.

www.robe.cz

Photos © Luka Kotnik