gardenshed -> Flamenco Stage Lighting. What do you like? (Apr. 22 2008 9:37:32)
The demands on a lighting designer for flamenco are many and diverse. A 90 minute performance is often part dance, part rock concert, part minimalist play and part pantomime.
There is a simple solution: keep the dancer lit at all times, and vary the intensity of the lights according to the mood of the music and intensity of the dance, but is that enough?
What do audiences in different countries want from their flamenco lighting?
Doitsujin -> RE: Flamenco Stage Lighting. What do you like? (Apr. 22 2008 12:52:18)
I spoke with a photographer in past. He said, the flamenco-sage-light is often just from above. Than all actors faces look like skulls with black holes instead of eyes. He said, that wearing a white clothes is often the only chance to light the face a little bit.
gardenshed -> RE: Flamenco Stage Lighting. What do you like? (Apr. 22 2008 15:37:56)
A lot of dance lighting is profile, or angled lighting, which emphasises the form of the dancer, but can, as you say, be slightly less than flattering - to the face. The benefit is that it can also make the dancer look thinner - if from the right angle.
But which do you prefer? Light which expresses the feelings of the song, or which shows the dancer at their best? Or is there a middle way?
Florian -> RE: Flamenco Stage Lighting. What do you like? (Apr. 22 2008 22:56:29)
interesting undiscussed topic..
gonna be keeping an eye on your opinions of preffered stage lights..
I am just about to go into the theatre today with the stage designer to see what kind of equipment /lighting we have to play with ..
theatre has 3 projectors available, so might do a live feed of close up on the feet and on the guitars.
in the backgroud, back wall of the stage , i got a painter to painting a huge painting on black material..
it will be spanish archs painted with glow in the dark white so in the dark with the stage lights all you will see is white spanish archs (almost like neon lights)..hoping it will look spectacular..
also i am wearing compleatly white suit, white shoes, white shirt...because it will be a great contrast with all the black...(and because i never had a good enough to ever wear a white suit lol)
gardenshed -> RE: Flamenco Stage Lighting. What do you like? (Apr. 23 2008 10:14:12)
When you consider the dramatic and musical and choreographic range of flamenco, and the fact that it doesn't always stick to a plot, that performers improvise, it's a bit surprising that the issue of lighting design isn't wallowed in more deeply.
Generally, I try to make sure the shape and line of the dancer stands out against a simple coloured or black cyclorama, and try to vary lighting according to tempo and mood. In practice this means being able to separate the dancers from the musicians upstage, which means having enough top and side lighting to be able to do without full front of house cover, which would bounce all over the musicians and cyc, and create a confusing background for the dancer. Paintings look best against a plain wall.
Having said that, back projections can work really well. A cheap alternative is to mount a couple of birdies or other small lamp on the apron and use the magnified shadow of the dancer as the back projection.
Isolation and the solitary human soul are recurring themes in flamenco, so the dancer onstage must occasionally be able to be depicted in this state of duende. Follow spots are great if you can get a good operator. But then, fellowship and co-operation are also recurring themes, and so there must be specials for each of the musicians too. To show the audience the interaction between dancers and the rest of the company - when appropriate. As for what is appropriate for who and when - there's the rub.
