“Excellent.” “Entertaining.” “Mesmerizing.” Just a few of the comments we heard from audience members after they experienced Ballet Preljocaj’s La Fresque.
Last week the Mondavi Center welcomed Ballet Preljocaj back for their first performance in Jackson Hall since 2012. In La Fresque, artistic director Angelin Preljocaj continued his exploration of fairy tales, plunging the audience into the fantastical world of Pu Songling’s “The Painted Wall.”
It was a different kind of dance show for the Production Department because there were some unusual technical elements. Here's a rundown of some of the equipment we used for La Fresque at the Mondavi Center by the numbers, technically:
160: Feet of 12” box truss that was hung as 2 – 80’ pieces over the stage. The strands of “hair” that the dancers swung on were hung and secured from this truss. The Production Department rented the truss from a local theatrical supply company.
48: Feet of fluorescent tubes, brought in by the company, which were used from behind the dancers to create a silhouette effect.
10: Clay Paky Alpha 1500 computer-controlled moving lights, also brought in by the company. Each light weighs over 100 lbs. and has a color temperature rating of 6,000 kelvin (or K). (For comparison, the typical color temperature for midday sunlight is 5,600 K). The Alpha 1500s were hung on the overstage pipes that are part of Jackson Hall’s counterweight rigging system.
2: 5,000-watt Fresnels, a type of light that is pronounced fruh-NEL (with a silent S). These were also hung on overstage pipes.
1: U-Shaped truss matrix that was set up for five of the Production Department’s L&E 9-cell striplights to hang from. These lights created the blinding burst of light from the back of the stage seen toward the end of the piece.
The Mondavi Center Production Department enjoyed having Ballet Preljocaj's technical director Martin Lecarme and his talented technical staff here last week. We wish Ballet Preljocaj safe travels on the rest of their tour, and look forward to working with them again soon.
Author Bio: Donna J. Flor is the Production Manager at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis. Beginning as a freelance lighting designer, stage manager, and stagehand, she has since worked exclusively in production management of roadhouse theatres for the past 30 years. After assisting with the grand opening of the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, in 1994, she spent 17 years there leading the Technical Production Department. In 2011, Donna helped open the acclaimed Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City. She and her husband Kirk are most proud of Jake, their canine son.