Says Crawford: "I am aware that we have one of the first Eos consoles available. The product team are really excited about the development of the desk and listen carefully to their end users. For example, there was one time when we had an issue with the software - not a fault, but we needed it to operate differently. We contacted ETC and received a software update within 24 hours. We felt they completely supported during the Eos's tour around the world. That is unprecedented in my book - they truly stepped up to the plate."
Alvin Ailey was among the first to use an Eos lighting control desk from ETC, which recently won a PLASA Award for Innovation, completing a hat trick - it won similar awards at LDI last year and Showtech earlier this year. US company 4Wall Entertainment Lighting supplied the Eos system and is one of the first rental companies in the world to purchase them.
Eos was designed to handle the most complex lighting rigs, and the Alvin Ailey rig is no exception, with 180 ETC Source Four profiles and 80 Source Four PARs. "We chose the Eos because we'd been with Obsession for 15 years and have over 200 ballets in our repertoire," says Crawford. "Changing desks posed a significant challenge, because of the inherent and continual translation process, so we needed a desk that could understand the data. In our production we use conventional fixtures, moving lights and scrollers and needed to transfer the massive amount of repertory information seamlessly.
"I must acknowledge the entire Ailey lighting staff for their dedication to this process of moving to the Eos system. Stuart Nelson, associate lighting director for AAADT, lead the translation and integration process and I'm so appreciative for his hard work and tireless hours. Thanks also to Michael Cannon and Al Ridella at 4Wall Entertainment Lighting for their dedication to investing in new technology, and I cannot forget the ETC folks including Anne Valentino, Dennis Varian, Luke Delwiche, and Victor Seastone. What a team."
(Jim Evans)
