Rigging / Staging

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14 March 2016

With a growing interest in the provision of spaces suitable for dance - for professional performance and rehearsal, private dance schools and throughout the education sector - there is increasing focus towards specifying dance floors that meet both performance aspirations as well as conforming to health and safety requirements. As world leaders in advanced technology flooring for dance and the performing arts, the release of the Specifying dance floors, a guide for architects by Harlequin Floors aims to aid architects in selecting floors that meet both of these criteria.

As no standards currently exist which

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14 March 2016

Packing the skis for travel has always been a challenge explains Jez, and it was time to move permanently on from bubble-wrap, soft bags and keeping fingers crossed that they arrived in one piece ... to something more serious!

Water skis are constructed from hollow fiberglass resin materials which are brittle on the outside and a fall onto concrete, even from a short distance, can damage a ski beyond repair, so protection during transport is imperative.

UK based Jeremy was recommended to 5 Star, where he met Keith Sykes and the design team, who listened to his requirements and set to work to

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14 March 2016

DTS2 manufactures and installs a complete range of winch, hoist and control technology. In an announcement made at this year's ABTT show in London, the two companies have joined forces to provide permanent installations in new build and refurbished theatrical, event and exhibition venues.

Speaking about the collaboration at the show Mark Priestley, capital projects manager for Unusual, said, "This development is an extremely exciting step for Unusual, as it allows us to broaden our range of services in the installation and capital projects sector to enhance our stage engineering offer. None of our installations are off-the-shelf: rather, using DTS2's outstanding control technology, we will add the Unusual 'm

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14 March 2016

"The visitor reaction to the products on our stand was fantastic," says CEO Simon Caldwell. "The Zoom Stage 200 went down very well, powered only by a standard power drill. The diea was acknowledged to be brilliant and highly practical."

ABTT put Independent Studio Serrvics on the map as UK distributors for Milos and Tuchler.

"The truss systems and staging from Milos and Tuchler are being requested more and more in the UK and we are happy that this trend was reinforced by the obvious interest they generated on the stand," says Caldwell.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

The Killers were the headline act at the Isle of Wight Festival where Le Maitre effects included 25' Silver Mines; Mortar Hits; 30' Silver Comets with tail; Flash Reports;1x25' Silver Gerbs; 30x20' Silver Cascades; 30' Red Comets'; 25' Red & Purple Mines; Blue & Purple 30' Comets with tail; 25' Gold Glitter Mines; and 30 Air Canons.

In addition, Mines, Gerbs, Mortar Hits, Flash Reports, Flame Projectors were also going off at the Download Festival for Iron Maiden and Airbourne.

Le Maitre were working in collaboration with Pyrotek Special Effects Inc.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

The cable is engineered to suit all high-end touring applications and is suitable for those working in the professional live entertainment industry as well as for AV and custom installations of all types.

The US branch will be stocking cables from the Comus' ranges for speakers, instruments and microphones.

Comus features include flexible and durable jacket compounds which remain supple even in sub-zero temperatures! The whole cable construction is designed so that the cables are resistant to kinks and twisting, making them ultimately easy and adaptable to work with.

The jackets are tough, but easy to strip for quick, easy and painless installation.

The cables also feature low capacitance and low dielectric insulation,

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14 March 2016

Back in 1996, when Jenny Overton purchased Harlequin Reversible, she did not expect to enjoy such longevity. To make matters all the more impressive, Colne Bank School of Dancing only uses one side of the two-sided dance floor and it is still as functional and attractive as the day they took it home.

"We have a school of approximately 250 students doing ballet, modern theatre, tap and jazz from three years up to and including advanced. The 3m x 15m rolls have been rolled out, swept, stuck down, used and rolled away again, 5 days a week for the l

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14 March 2016

The company now announces another recent addition to the Group - with the purchase of UK lighting / speaker stand and truss lift manufacturer Mobil Tech International.

For many years Mobil Tech has worked in close partnership with Milos in the distribution of OEM products within the entertainment industry, including the popular PAD, PAX & PAZ trussing ranges and accessories.

At present, Milos is in the process of transferring operations from Letchworth, Hertfordshire to be fully integrated within Milos UK's Design & Distribution Centre in Cambridgeshire.

The Mobil Tech range will be supplied as part of Milos's extensive portfolio, and it is planned that design and p

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14 March 2016

Having been responsible for the design of most of the landmark touring stadium shows of the past three decades, Fisher occupied a unique position in the industry. He trained as an architect at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, graduating in 1971, and later, having already made his name in the world of concert design with his work on Pink Floyd's The Wall (1980), he teamed up with Jonathan Park to create the Fisher Park Partnership in 1984. The Mark Fisher Studio, Stufish, was founded in 1994.

Fisher's designs throughout this period encompass many of the largest, most innovative, most complex and most memorable touring concert productions of recent times. In addition to Pink Floyd,

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14 March 2016

Dan Kelly is a former student from Backstage Academy's first Foundation Degree in Live Events Production. He joined the industry training company, based in Wakefield, at the end of the course and has been touring schools and colleges to provide students with an insight into working backstage.

Said Kelly: "Working with schools and colleges is very important for the sustainability of the UK's live events industry. Most students I speak to are unaware of the career opportunities available to them and even less aware of how they can get into the industry and progress once they are in it.

"Through my experience of the Foundation Degree, being tutored by industry professionals, and working both in the LS-Live

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14 March 2016

User benefits include the fact that power-line terminations can be taken from any point on the printed-circuit board without the need for tracks to be extended to one specific connection area. As a result, costs are reduced because of the simplified design and savings in real estate. This approach also eliminates the possibility of concentrated "hot spots" and therefore allows higher currents to be handled.

The easy "push/click" Han-Fast Lock PCB termination fits securely in the standard plated-through hole with pad and can handle up to 60 A for discr

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14 March 2016

Founded in 1994 with just two classes and six pupils, the Amanda Restell Academy of Dance has grown over the last 20 years and now schools more than 600 children from the age of two. As part of its expansion and to accommodate the growing student numbers, Amanda moved the academy to the former antiques shop at the 100 year old Elmworks Studios building.

During a complete renovation and modernisation programme to bring the new studios up to 21st century standards for safety and comfort, Amanda turned to Harlequin Floors for their expert advice.

Harlequin supplied over 150m2 of Harlequin Activity

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14 March 2016

UK technology company Mantracourt Electronics has launched a new range of load monitoring equipment that targets the requirements of the entertainment industry.

Mantracourt's BroadWeigh system provides accurate, wireless, real-time load monitoring of stage equipment and has been designed to assist rigging professionals within the entertainment sector.

Central to the design of the system is a wireless shackle equipped with a high accuracy load pin that is able to report data wirelessly to a computer or a handheld display. The system is able to monitor multiple loads and trigger an alarm should a load exceed a preset parameter.

"BroadWeigh has been especially developed for riggers to provide simple, effective, accurate and easy to u

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14 March 2016

Stage Technologies has installed a fully integrated powered flying system including four flybar winches, a two line performer flying winch and four moveable point hoists with re-configurable rigging hardware for setting up complex 3D flying applications. Equipment is controlled using the latest Au:Tour equipment as well as an array of desks running eChameleon software.

Nikki Scott, managing director of Stage Technologies commented,"We are delighted

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14 March 2016

The venue, which was a much used event space following its establishment as the Wakefield Co-operative headquarters in 1867, has been closed for the last decade.

Unity House Wakefield Limited formed in 2011 with the intention of raising funds to restore the building and turn it into a major music venue, conference centre and location for creative businesses.

The development team, led by director Chris Hill, raised £4m of funding to restore the structural elements of the venue, but its bid to the Arts Council for £300,000 to finish the interior of the building was declined.

Stage, set and studio company LS-Live, and its affiliated industry training centre Backstage Academy in South Kirkby, Wakefield, hav

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14 March 2016

The new, much larger arts centre will attract more acts to the district as the previous arts centre, which had served the district for more than 40 years, had been too small or inadequate for some acts given the size and quantity of material they required on stage.

Other features of the new state-of-the-art facility include a 15m tower above the stage, to improve management of curtains, lights, scenery and backdrops during performances.

Jands designed, manufactured and installed the all-important safety curtain for the Mildura Arts Centre Theatre including related mechanical components with the specified mechanical, structural and control features.

The 3,000kg safety curtain, appro

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14 March 2016

Providing the artists with a set that could be used in club spaces and toured internationally for festival shows, the Roboscreens can be swapped out and fitted with signature scenic Deadmau5 maus-heads created by the Henson Company during their set.

Automation for the robots was provided by Tait from movements translated by Robotic Arts, based on designer briefs. Pre-programmed movements were able to take place seamlessly during live

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14 March 2016

The Industrial Rack range is currently available in variants of 4U to 20U - in increments of 2U - to offer full flexibility to users and specifiers working in different sectors.

The rack shells are made from 9 mm birch ply with a high-pressure laminate (HPL) exterior, and like all 5 Star products, are built to rugged, high quality specifications and tough enough for the most exacting environments.

Eight standard HPL colours are currently available offering a variety of smart, dynamic finishes.

The main body depth is a standard 550mm, complete with 62 mm deep internal removable doors.

The racks are fitted with f

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14 March 2016

Director of dance, Brigitte Lefèvre was joined by principal dancers, Dorothée Gilbert and Jérémie Bélingard for the interview which is featured on the Harlequin YouTube channel.

Brigitte Lefèvre explained that although a well-established and respected traditional dance company "everything is always evolving, a living tradition and at the same time we are a reflection of an age, of the times." She continued, "You realise that the dancers are all becoming more and more attentive to everything that accompanies them and they are perfectly right. In a reference to dancers' health and well-being she said, "you can speak of att

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14 March 2016

Friday 28 June saw the unveiling of three large dance studios, costume and shoe storage room, an aerial performance room and two singing rehearsal rooms, all in a converted warehouse. The Academy is one of the largest dance studios in the UK and will house rehearsals for thousands of dancers and performers rehearsing for appearances on Carnival Cruises.

Each of the three dance studios were fully equipped with Harlequin Activity Sprung Floor topped with Harlequin Standfast Surface and were built to replicate a ship in a bid to help perform

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14 March 2016

Actus Industries is headed by Andy Martin, and its senior management team includes some of the most experienced and respected practitioners in the production, show and event industry.

The business has three separate divisions; equipment hire, selected sales and project management.

Actus general manager Adam Beaumont explained that they always intended to go into automation and the choice of brand was made because, "Kinesys is easily the best option'.

They recently won the contract to supply the full rigging package to Robbie Williams' Take The Crown tour, and at this point decided to expand their Kinesys elements.

The new Kinesys kit - including Liftket motors, El

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14 March 2016

StageHand is registered with the UK Charity Commission in addition to the name 'PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund', and donations can be made in either name. The charity is also registered with JustGiving.com, which allows the tax value of donations to be reclaimed under the Gift Aid scheme, boosting the value of individual donations significantly at no extra cost to the donor.

"We don't have many calls on our funds these days, because people have learned that having professional insurance of various types is the sensible way to go," explained trustee Mike Lowe of Britannia Row. "But in certain circumstances it is good to know that there is a fall-back option when a PSA member (or widow or widower)

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14 March 2016

Stage Technologies supplied the full automation package, consisting of counterweight assist winches, floor tracks, trucks, sliders and supplementary motors, while sister company Delstar Engineering supplied the stage engineering and hydraulics.

Production manager Patrick Molony said, "Working with the team from Stage Technologies on Charlie has been an absolute pleasure. The installation of the show into Drury Lane has been incredibly smooth. For a production with this level of automation there have been very few problems. When problems have occurred, which they inevitably will on something of this scale, Stage Technologies have pulled out all the stops, and have ensured that all necess

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14 March 2016

The site is much more interactive and provides the user an easier path to finding the product they require. With a latest news section, company profile, testimonials and much more, the website is now a comprehensive guide to the power distribution manufacturer. The site is also ready to accept a company webshop, which will be released later in the year.

(Jim Evans)