Real Time Lighting Design

Ellen Knops 

Light changes the atmosphere and distorts how time is passing with each shift I make in the theatre space. It is a powerful aspect of how the public perceives tension and how dancers, performers and musicians are defined visually. In real time theatre, I am able to influence, and therefore, interact with the choices the performance artists are making. This is a specific study for performance artists in how they need to feel and read the light states and changes while in the process of executing their work. In in the workshop, I want to do short improvisation sessions, allowing for the performance artists to be in the piece or out viewing, using different light states and shifts so that the performance artists have an opportunity to experience the possibilities light can produce in real time. We will engage with feedback and discussion in the breaks and I will share some of the technical reality’s of my work. As the person behind the light board, there is an obvious visual position I have that is located equally to the public view in a playing space. It is from this position I make choices. The aim in this workshop, is to guide the dancers towards recognising from their visual position, how light is affecting the, time, tension and atmosphere in the playing space and to discover an interactive relationship with me behind the board. The question we will address is; how does light influence real time performance?

I will use lighting as part of your creation processes to highlight the tension in the space and to support the performance level; raise to a public presentation performative level in a rehearsal context.

I give feedback based on how you are using the light designs and how you are working as a collaboration towards your piece. 

In your technical rehearsal I offer feedback, light design and suggest the order of events.

I then collaborate with you in the performances with real time light design