France - Belgian lighting designer Francis Mannaert is currently using a raft of Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 Spot and Wash Luminaires to create a dynamic supernatural lightscape for the National Opera Ukrainia's touring ballet, set to the hauntingly evocative music of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.

Conductor Grigori Penteleîtchouk originally commissioned the production for a small classical music festival - Festival des Nuits Sainte Victoire, in 2009. However, so successful was it that producer Franck Dompietrini and Maestro, Penteleïtchouk, decided to take an expanded version of the production across France and play to the largest audiences possible.

Mannaert used VL3000 spots and washes, as part of a traditional ballet lighting rig, he explains: "I use the Vari-Lite's for punchy key, back and side lighting. There are no props or scenery on stage except for a p

USA - Chauvet is a sponsor of Academy of Production Technology three-day seminars dedicated to the advancement of education and safety in the live event production industry. Led by Richard Cadena, a 24-year veteran of the entertainment lighting industry with a background in electronics and electrical engineering, the classes travel the country to capture a wide-ranging audience.

November's class will be set at Chauvet headquarters in Sunrise, Fla. The class covers theory and practices of entertainment technology for the working electrician and technician.

Attendees will learn essential training in safety, codes and regulations, control systems, and basic electricity to advanced power distribution. The course work also counts towards renewal credits for ETCP Certified Electricians.

"We are pleased to open the doors to our facility for an educational endeavour," said

UK - BBC's The One show returns to the small screen with this year's hosts including Lenny Henry, Jasper Carrott and Griff Rhys Jones. The sketch shows will also include an array of special guests.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) support lighting designers Oli Richards and Martin Kempton to create a simple and elegant setting for the shows. The specification includes Stage Zoom 1200's, MAC 500's, MAC 600's, 900mm Chroma Strips, GLP Impressions and GLP Impressions XL, Alpha Beam 700's and Stage Bars.

In addition to the main lighting rig, RML also liaised with Rosco to supply gobos for the show.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The Satellite is battery powered, cable free and wirelessly controlled, with a movable adjustable twin headed LED head with 360 degree pan/180 degree tilt.

They are a high output LED fixture with RBG colour mixing, no heat and IP rated for outdoor use. They can also be used with an internally wired telescopic pole up to 2.6m.

Using the standard LiteWare flightcase charging system they are designed for quick get-ins, venues with power issues and where cables can't be easily run or masked.

The Satellites are already proving a hit with Hawthorns' Production Solutions team and their dry hire customers. Senior project manager Chris Knight recently used the Satellites on a corporate party for a major financial institution; he commented, "The Satellites were brilliant. Quick, simple and surprisingly powerful."

(Jim Evans)

USA - At this year's LDI Show in Orlando GLP presented a spectacular launch showcase for both its own, and sister company G-LEC fixtures - as well as offering other creative visual solutions for LD's.

Pride of place went to the German manufacturer's LED washlight, the impression Wash One, which was making its North American debut. This was joined by a new video display and controller from G-LEC, and new IP65 outdoor rated and battery powered fixtures from its Scenex Lighting range of LED scenic lighting fixtures. A wide selection of Global Truss products were also displayed on the stand.

Stated Mark Ravenhill, president, GLP German Light Products Inc, "The Wash One preview created exactly the feedback we had been hoping for. With two identical demo stations, and a rig of units we were able to showcase both the Wash One and Spot One, as well as the Volkslicht Zoom and impr

UK - The new Chroma-Q Color Charge Plus is a higher output version of the original battery powered, wireless DMX fixture. It is suitable for temporary indoor lighting applications where wiring is a challenge or where install speed is critical, transforming a venue in minutes.

The Color Charge Plus utilises the very latest generation of LED and optics, resulting in 50% more output (900 lumens) than the original Color Charge (600 lumens) from the same size unit.

The Color Charge Plus fixture's environmentally friendly design includes a recyclable long life battery cell and an interchangeable LED head for upgrading in the future. The highly efficient nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) power cell delivers up to 30 hours usage from a single charge and provides up to 1,000 charges; approximately double the life of lead-acid batteries. The fixture also features a built-in mains charger that

USA - Robe Lighting had a busy and successful LDI 2011 exhibition in Orlando, Florida, where it showcased its latest products including, for the first time in the USA, the newly launched MMX Spot - the first of Robe's next generation of 1200 series moving lights.

Other new fixtures introduced to the US market included the Robin 1200 and 300 LEDWash, The Robin DLX Spot and the new versions of the CityFlex 48 and CityLine 48 from Robe's popular LED series.

The Robin LEDWash 600 RBGW - Robe's fastest selling luminaire of all time - together with its PureWhite version, both of which are fast becoming 'industry standard' specified products, were also at the centre of the action.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Pink wristbands, T-shirts and ribbons are a common sight during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month - but a pink hospital? West Jefferson Medical Centre(WJMC) wanted to do something special to celebrate the life of breast cancer survivors and honour the memory of those who lost their battle with the disease, so the New Orleans-area hospital 'turned pink', putting its 10-story front entrance aglow in brilliant pink lights for the entire month of October.

The traffic-stopping pink lighting display was created by Abstract Productions, LLC (Baton Rouge, LA), using Rebel Pro Par RGB LED pars from Acclaim Lighting. Adrian Miceli of Abstract said that power draw was "a huge factor" in selecting a fixture to colour wash the 120ft long by 10-story-high exterior space, since the lights were to remain on continuously for 12 hours daily.

The Rebel Pro Par's energy effic

UK - Manchester-based dbn Lighting supplied lighting design and equipment - including trussing and all necessary rigging - to the main stage at the 2011 Ramsbottom Festival staged at Ramsbottom Cricket Ground in Bury, a picturesque riverside location in Greater Manchester.

As in previous years, the boutique style Festival was a partnership between The Met, Bury's renowned live arts venue and Ramsbottomonline.com. dbn's Nick Buckley was asked to create a production design to cover the three days of live music, headlined on the Friday by The Animals & Friends, followed by The Guillemots on Saturday, concluding on Sunday with The Waterboys.

His design had to be flexible enough to deal with the different sounds and styles of these and the other artists on the line up each day, and took the Waterboys spec (LD Craig McCleary) as a general starting point. Buckley wanted to give them

More Metal - A re-formed Black Sabbath, including lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, have been announced as the second headliners for next year's Download Festival. The band, who last played together at Donington Park in 2005 as part of the Ozzfest touring festival, will then embark on a world tour. Metallica were announced as the first headliners of Download, which takes place at Donington between 8-10 June.

Ahead of their Download performance on Sunday 10 June, Black Sabbath are to record their first album with their original line-up for 33 years. The 1968 incarnation of the band, which also includes guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward, will record new material with producer Rick Rubin. Black Sabbath have released 18 albums since 1969, when they formed in Birmingham.

Music Business - EMI has said it will sell its recorded music unit for £1.

Jordan - PR lighting fixtures have been found lighting up many events around the world - but never before have they been involved in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) 'cage fighting'.

This is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles.

Over in Jordan, Amman-based R.B. Live Productions, the PR Lighting distributors, have been building ringside ground support trusses for Cage Warriors, an international association performing their art in more than five countries, with live television broadcast.

According to R.B. owner / operations manager, Emad Al Rabadi, "Generic and FX lighting are among the most important elements of the show, especially for the fighters' entrance and the Red / Blue colour changing

USA - At the LDI Show in Orlando, LumenRadio honoured TMB, their North American and UK distributor, with their CRMX distributor of the quarter award for Q2/2011. During the quarter TMB significantly increased sales and also produced excellent training videos and sales presentations for the entire CRMX product range, says the company. Feedback from customers and end-users also rated pre- and post-sales support from TMB's Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and London offices as "excellent".

TMB, together with specifiers, lighting designers, and other lighting professionals, has completed or initiated many exciting wireless CRMX projects during the quarter. The festival season was particularly busy with such noteworthy examples as Coachella in California, the Main Stage at Big Chill and the Live & 4Music stages at the Virgin Festival, both in the UK.

The Gold Trophy for CRM

UK - Blackout provided rigging and draping for the spectacular 2011 MTV EMA held in Belfast on 6 November.

MTV EMA's spectacular set (designed by Es Devlin), transformed Belfast's Odyssey Arena with a complex combination of curved scenery at both ends and technical production equipment. Every inch of the venue was utilised to achieve the combined requirements of the live show and television producers for the broadcast to over 600m MTV homes around the world.

Blackout director Kevin Monks has worked with the MTV EMA producers all over Europe since 1998. And comments, "The MTV EMA is always a spectacular show and a technically complicated one to achieve. This year we were working to a very tight build schedule, which the brilliant MTV EMA event manager Maggie Mouzakitis delivered with calm assurance - and there were a lot of (crazy) creative ideas for us to accommodate with

USA - This year's LDI Show proved a massive success for coolux and its multifaceted Pandoras Box product family. The positive feedback that coolux received for their new Pandoras Box Version 5 release was crowned with additional honours in the form of two prestigious awards.

The coolux Widget Designer PRO 3.0 was awarded the Parnelli Indispensable Technology of the Year Award and the PLASA Rock Our World Award.

The Rock Our World Awards were created to honour innovative achievement by PLASA members and to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of the technology and the designer or integrator who applies it in a real world environment.

The Parnelli Award "recognizes pioneering, influential professionals and their contributions, honouring both individuals and companies."

The ongoing award success highlights the flexibility and reliability offered by the coolux

USA - LumenRadio's CRMX wireless DMX/RDM technology was used with great success in the production of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise's fourth instalment, the On Stranger Tides movie - currently the eighth highest-grossing release of all time worldwide.

The movie was produced and released in conventional 2D, IMAX, Disney Digital 3-D, and IMAX 3D and included sophisticated computer generated 2D/3D visual effects, as well as many extensive and complicated location shots. That level of technical ambition, a very compressed production schedule straddling the Atlantic, and the pressure of a multi-billion dollar franchise would not leave anything to chance.

Josh Thatcher was responsible for the deployment and operation of LumenRadio's CRMX units as part of a gigantic lighting rig on the California set.

"Not only did CRMX Nova by far provide the best range

USA - Cree, Inc.'s Ruud Lighting subsidiary, based in Racine, Wisc., will hold a groundbreaking ceremony today to highlight a 208,000sq.ft expansion to its manufacturing facility. The company's $24.5m investment will focus on manufacturing and assembly of LED lighting and is expected to create 469 new full-time jobs over the next four years.

"Cree's recent acquisition of Ruud Lighting and its BetaLED products brought together two leading LED lighting companies under one roof," said Chuck Swoboda, chairman and CEO of Cree. "Last month this facility shipped its 500,000th LED luminaire - further evidence of the market demand for the latest LED technology and a need to expand our facilities to maintain our leadership of the LED lighting revolution."

The expansion will extend component and product storage capacity and house several new manufacturing lines for ne

Israel - Robe's Israeli distributor, Danor Theatre & Studio Systems, based in Hod Hasharon, reports that the new Robin MMX Spot is already becoming a popular choice for the country's busy rental market.

Live performance, arts and other events are prolific in Israel, and Robe MMX fixtures have been used on several major shows including a performance of Mozart's Magic Flute at the Ha Ha'Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv-Yafo (LD Uri Morag); the final of popular TV talent show A Star Is Born (LD Ronen Najar) as well as for Swedish pop megastars, Roxette's recent concert at the Expo Ground in Tel Aviv, attended by a sold out audience of 12,000.

In all these cases the technical production was provided by the Mazuz Group from Petach Tikva, currently Israel's leading lighting, sound and AV operation. They have an extensive stock of Robe moving lights which have been supplied throug

Germany - LumenRadio's CRMX technology recently helped light the opening festivities for Germany's largest drinking water plant. The facility is located in Arnsberg-Neheim, part of the densely populated Ruhr valley, and produces over 600 cubic-meters of drinking water every hour; enough daily water for more than 10m people.

Lighting designer Frederik Decker, principal of City Light & Sound, choose to focus on the impressive technology involved in the tightly controlled purification process and naturally stayed with a blue colour scheme to match the water theme. Decker, together with local firm Topas Technology, provided a lighting rig of powerful, yet inconspicuous, Litecraft LED fixtures from LMP to provide saturated colour washes and powerful highlights of key technical apparatus without adding much visible equipment.

The production team was initially concerned about a wirel

Taiwan - The city of Hsin-Chu has one of the biggest industrial parks in Taiwan, most notably known for its electronics industry. Far less known is the beautiful Hinterland of Hsin-Chu which only few of today's travellers get to appreciate.

It is here that Providence Maitreya Buddha Missionary Institute has found a place to set up its new monastery. The monastery offers facilities for arts and cultural events and is also designed to serve as a convention centre within its theatre hall (1446 seats). Together with its partner DLHG in Taiwan, MA Lighting proposed a MA Digital Dimmer dimMA compact installation (the space saving alternative to the modular dimMA range) as well as a grandMA2 ultra-light console.

"It was great to have Michael Adenau himself here to take a look. The circumstances have been pretty special and bringing in the founder and mastermind of MA Lighting sh

USA - Craig Dains, who served as an account executive for the Healy Group, a manufacturer's representative firm based in Richmond, Virginia, has died. The cause was complications from heart disease. He was 26.

Dains handled American DJ, American Audio, Elation Professional, Acclaim Lighting, Global Truss, and Arriba Cases on the East Coast. He is survived his companion, Melissa J. Clements, his son Craig Brian Dains Jr., his parents, and six siblings.

Dains was scheduled to take part in American DJ's Fall Learning Tour on November 16 and 17; the events have now been cancelled, with a statement from American DJ announcing they will be rescheduled. The company expressed deep regret at Dain's passing.

In lieu of flowers, contributions should be made to the Craig Brian Dains Jr. Scholarship Fund in care of the Costantinto Funeral Home, 231 White Horse Pike, Berlin, New Jersey 08

Europe - Lighting designer and long-time Jands Vista advocate, Rob Sinclair specified a Vista S1 console with two M1 wings to run lighting for Adele's recent 2011 international tour.

The system ran Jands' Vista v2 software, and on some sections of the tour operating duties were taken on by John Barker while Sinclair fulfilled other design commitments on his busy schedule - including tours by Peter Gabriel and Goldfrapp, also utilising Vista systems.

Sinclair's innovative design for Adele was sculpted using entirely white light, a bold aesthetic move which has won considerable acclaim. None of the moving lights were seen to move, there was minimal flashing, and was a real case of subtlety and suggestion to augment Adele's powerful performance and natural stage presence.

There was a distinctive back wall of 96 cone-shaped lampshades each illuminated from behind with a 60 Watt

UK - Black Light has created two dramatic lighting installations at the National Mining Museum Scotland. The installations bring the pithead and gantry of the museum to life at night and create a new night time landmark in the Midlothian landscape.

The project uses innovative LED technology to create the illusion that the pit wheel at the 19th century Lady Victoria Colliery in Newtongrange is once again turning. Similar technology is used to make it seem as if the famous gantry that crosses the A7 to the pithead is being thronged by miners carrying lamps.

"The project highlights our experience installing a wide range of architectural lighting schemes," says Black Light's Head of company development, Phil Haldane. "It shows that we are experts at working with, installing and hED systems."

The installations have a high visual impact. They are designed to dr

USA - Little Rock First Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a tradition-rich congregation with an eye on the future. Built in 1972 and a foundation for the surrounding neighbourhood for nearly 40 years, the 1200-capacity church recently sought a rejuvenating update of dynamic light and colour.

Worship pastor at Little Rock First Baptist is Jerry Wilson who recently joined the staff with a vision to bring the church up to date with lighting gear that would complement the history of the church yet provide the flexible resources of current technology.

Lighting designer Robert Dicken of Full Focus Inc., lighting vendor on the project, worked closely with Wilson on the lighting renovation. "This was kind of a sensitive install because the church has basically looked the same since 1972," Dicken explains. "They were concerned that the congregation would be opp

USA - Coemar and LED Source - the distributor of Coemar LED products in the US , dedicated their LDI stand completely to Reflection LEDko.

Among the many features of this profiler is the flexibility of use projecting coloured gobos on the walls of the stand, made at the time with a transparency sheet and a standard printer.

This new range of LED profilers with a full range of accessories and lenses, consists of three models - FullSpectrum, VariWhite 3000/7000 K and White 3200 K with interchangeable lenses, Soft Profile with lenses by Fresnel or PC and Profile zoom 28°-40° HD - and meets the latest market needs that are looking for high performance, low power consumption and an appropriate cost in the same product.

These features, together with a dedicated software that expands the possibilities of use, have been particularly popular with television production studios

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