Calligraphical Martial Art

Wave bye bye to one show and the next comes running right on in.

(Shop talk warning – it’s all interspersed in the writing in this post – I’ll try to get the glossary updated)

From the uptempo tap-tap, we next move into a calmer more chilled piece.

The company, from Taiwan, are performing a piece that is a dance response to calligraphy. A light grey marley surrounded by black box the show opens with a thump – literally.

The tabs fly out as the company stomp on the floor – under which are a couple of PCC160 at stratagetic points. The sound track is made up of waves, crickets, brooks (cross your legs!), wind chimes and bells which drift in and out of hearing, sometimes vanishing completely as the dancers continue in silence.

Paper banners descent from the heavens and ink slowly runs down the waxy coating, the lights drift into another state and dancers’ silhouettes appear on the banners. The banners continue to fly in and out until finally the whole company is assembled onstage and then are washed offstage to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

It seems to be less dance and more athletic capability and synchronised moves but then what constitutes dance in any case? (That’s one question BTW that can wait until another post for discussion – I doubt there’s one true answer)

This was one show where I wasn’t involved too much with the sound requirements – apart from sourcing the hires, I was in to get the lighting sorted (and check the sound guys were fine) – though as there were C6 monitors as sidefill onstage and first few audience rows, I did up up twiddling the knobs on the D12 amps powering them (it’s getting to the point where I can navigate through the menu’s on those from memory alone)

Being on lighting meant I got to play on our MEWP – an Upright U-drive 25. Of course, it also meant that I had to focus Strand SL zoom profiles onto those banners. Nice.

I was just glad that the static shock tendencies of the dance floor were absent. Something about driving a non-earthed metallic device on marley around a lighting rig does invite the occasional discharge if you aren’t taking care. And that’s not nearly as relaxing as the show was.

Hoofer in the house

This week marked the start of a month or more when I keep the hire companies in business. Each week is a different company with a different body and style of work and each are requiring a different equipment list above our in-house stock.

The first company was the UK premiere of an American tap-dancer, or hoofer in his parlance. Hoofer dates back to the early 20th century and relates to a jazz and tap club with the same name in Harlem.

Our hoofer turned up with three other hoofers and a 4 piece jazz band – piano, double bass, drums and sax/flute, with everything but the wind instruments supplied for them.

[Shop Talk]

2 AKG c414 cover the piano left and right from tape cradles mounted on the supports a couple inches above the string. The double bass is DI’ed from it’s pickup with a SM81 close miked. A C419 clips onto the horn of the two saxs used, used in conjunction with a MD421. A windshielded 451 is used for the flute. The kit has a Pro 25 on the kick, beta 57 and SM57 on top and bottom snare, SM98s on the toms, one of our SE300 on the hi-hat and a pair of KM184 acting as an overhead pair. The hoofers are using a raised tap floor which has 9 contact mikes spaced along the up- and downstage edges.

Monitors are from Clair Bros and are bi-amped although there is an UPA1P at each corner of the tap floor (about 12′ x 20′) – the taps are loud!

Monitors is from a Heritage 3000 with Rane graphics and no effects. Out front with our Legend is a whole bunch of dbx compressers and noise gates, a couple of PCM80s and SPX990s, a couple of tube comps across the tap group (along with another gate as the contact mics are unbalanced and something has a Pin 1 problem) driving our normal EAW rig.

It’s not me at the faders (that whole support role thing that I seem to be doing of recent) but it’s sounding pretty good

[/shop talk]

Although there is a basic structure, it’s all pretty free-form and the running times of each act to vary from night to night (and piece to piece).

Lighting is run from a Strand 550 in which the subs have been adapted to worked as a manual preset desk – a mix of scrollers in the rig and gobo rotaters with some parcan washes and a ‘foot focus’ side light – and the lighting operator reacts to the moves of the dancers, which makes a nice change to the normal ‘button monkey’ entry that lighting desks seem to have so often these days

Things to not give blind people

The last few weeks I’ve been in a production suport role more than show staff (excepting the Google Gala) – I’ve seen very few of the shows and then mostly rehearsals when I have.

Part of this support was checking the assisted listening for an audio described performance.

Our space permanently has an induction loop broadcasting a feed from the show relay which those with hearing aids can tune into to listen to the show. An infra-red based system normally does the same – this though is routed via a mixer that we can also use to provide commentary.

For the visual impaired, this means that they can be listening to the show and simultaneously hearing what the performers are doing.

As a prelude to this described performance, the users are invited to a ‘touch tour’ – they are brought to the stage and are told about the various costumes, scenic items and props required for the show, under the supervision of members of the company. With our predominatly dance based pieces, there is also a chance to ‘dance’ with members of the company and actually feel what some of the dance moves are like.

The problem this time was that the show was the Three Musketeers and one of the props available were the swords ….

…. no damage done but it is one of those things that reminds you just what a visual world we tend to live in.

One of those little things that no one ever tells you

I don’t know about you all but I’ve always found when flossing that the floss had a habit of actually going a few mm into the gum which, though not painful, looks wrong

 In fact (according to the hygenist who spent an hour in my mouth yesterday) the enamel on your teeth extend about 3mm into the gum and it’s this little gap betwixt gum and tooth that bad bacteria like to hide in (about 900+ types of the little buggers)

I wonder how much less time I would have been in her chair if someone had mentioned that to me years ago. And how much less pain would have been inflicted …