Dance 287-F25-Lighting for Choreographers

  Hello! My name is Mac McDermott. I will be the TA for Dance 287 this quarter. For my post this week, I chose a photo that I took in the Guadalupe Mountains in Texas. I chose this image because of the shadow. Despite being overcast, plenty of light is visible, and the glow gave an ominous warning (which led to running two miles through hail) The layers of clouds cast these deep ever changing shadows across the mountain range. One of the defining traits of my lighting designs is my use of shadow to tell a story.

As artists, we see the world in unique ways, and we all draw inspiration from our surroundings. These blog posts are designed to help you see lighting differently—deepening your appreciation for light in daily life and broadening your artistic vision. They will help you develop an eye for light, not only in theatre, but also in the everyday moments around you. To better understand how light can influence an audience’s perception, we must first explore how it shapes our own perception day to day. Throughout the quarter, I hope this blog will encourage you to discover light in ways you may not have noticed before. You’ll begin to see colors you’ve overlooked, recognize the angle of a particular light, and learn to articulate how light makes you feel. To support this process, I’ve created a space for each of you to contribute a short entry every other week on an aspect of light you’ve observed during your experiences. This could be a striking sunset, the energy of a rock concert, the desi...