Richard Lambert was asked to help with the lighting, and a few conversations later, he'd enrolled the help of some of the industry's finest to help too. These included Noreen O'Riordan of Entec Sound & Light who provided the lighting rig, and Michael Althaus of MA Lighting who supplied the control system. Production management was undertaken by Ryan Brown of Entec and programming by Liz Berry, with additional help and operations by Jonathon Lyle.
The overall lighting design was completed by Richard, who said: "People and companies in the lighting industry are truly amazing! It's great to be able to help with something like this and incredible what can be achieved. We're fortunate to work with companies that care enough to help."
The lighting rig was controlled by a grandMA Full-Size which was chosen because of its ability to create lots of show looks very quickly, as well as its live busking features for the dancing later in the show. The rig included Clay Paky Alpha Spot 300 HPE fixtures, four Martin MAC 250+, and eight MAC 300s - along with some haze and six Glitter gerbs for a fun, versatile rig.
The Under Tree Schools project in southern Sudan is building a future for girls who would otherwise receive no education. After decades of civil war, Joseph and Karin Ayok-Loewenberg's remarkable schools - literally under trees - project is now building its first permanent school. It will be mainly for girls, as the new southern Sudan Government is concentrating its resources for education on boys. Joseph and Karin's vision is to provide an education that can help the girls out of poverty and will greatly benefit their communities.In 2008, they laid the foundations and fabric of the first school building, and that's now due to open in a couple of months' time.
At the 2009 Barnes Charity Ball, guests were hoping to raise enough money to furnish at least 10 classrooms. The evening featured numerous performances, including local women from the church who formed a Can-Can dancing troupe, followed by a series of professional entertainers including stilt walkers, fire-eaters, singers, dancers, aerial trapeze and silks artists.
Charlie Bricknell and the Dream Girls, Michelle and Tink, performed a singing aerial display, all adding to this successful evening which raised an incredible £55,000 for this very worthwhile charity.
(Lee Baldock)
