Robe in the ring for Circo de Hielo 2
- Details
The newest arena show, directed by Suso Silva, played in a bespoke 1,800-capacity circular tent that was erected for the run of shows at IFEMA Madrid that combined premium ice skating with acrobatics, breath-taking stunts – including a skater fighting with a violinist playing live - and heaped with theatricality, pumping live music and visuals.
Juanjo chose 40 x Robe LEDBeam 150s, 24 MegaPointe and 24 Spiider moving lights to be central to his lighting rig, and these were purchased for the run of shows by Productores de Sonrisas.
Right now, the producers, creative team, technicians, and cast are anxiously awaiting a possible announcement of dates for 2021, when this mega production can hopefully be reprised after its original run from November 2019 to February 2020.
The final performance portentously finished just before the live entertainment industry worldwide was shot down with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Juanjo has worked on several previous Productores de Sonrisas productions, a challenge he always enjoys, and his first ice show for them was in 2016. The new tented venue for this one was also designed to provide more precise rigging positions to accommodate the various technical disciplines – lighting, audio, video and scenics - which made it a hugely exciting space in which to work.
In addition to that, the main starting point for the lighting design was the show narrative.
The story is set on a frozen planet filled with mountains, glaciers, igloos and northern lights and based around an Inuit Eskimo village, so the two big environmental elements that needed emulating were the constant cold, the long nights, the magical quality of light that permeated the landscape and all-encompassing sunsets.
For the latter, they had assistance from a large upstage LED screen and the team at Romero Studio projections.
Juanjo used all the Robe moving lights fully for this show and chose them “to have the endless possibilities that I needed at my fingertips to animate and finesse an already highly visual show”.
Some of the LEDBeam 150s and all of the Spiiders and MegaPointes were rigged on a box truss flown 12m above the circular ice track ice, where they produced washes and general lighting to complement the more specific spotlighting, highlighting and key lighting.
The other LEDBeam 150s were on three trusses further off stage, and together with the MegaPointes, they provided the front light.
The Spiiders give the ‘kick’ and intensity needed to bathe the ice in so many colours and textures, and at times it was transformed into a massive cyclorama. “The power of both these fixtures (LEDBeam 150 and Spiider) means they can work from all over these high trims without losing power,” he commented.
Juanjo as always enjoyed working with the Gonzalez family - Manuel, Rafa and María - who are Productores de Sonrisas, and is continually impressed with their “ongoing commitment to quality and high production values”.
His programmer, friend, and right-hand person on this was Pablo Zamora, and the show’s technical production team was managed by Mario Ortega, owner of Smart Fussion, the company taking care of all the technical elements.
Rubén Franco was chief LX, assisted by Alba González and Sebas García de Alveniz, while Marco Monteiro and Flavio Bañuelos from Productores de Sonrisas maintained the tent infrastructure and skating track, ensuring that everything remained in perfect condition. LED screens were supplied by Smart Fussion.
