Dance 287-F25-Lighting for Choreographers

  For this Week 10's post, I found myself immersed in this quiet environment inside the pool, yet it felt alive at the same time. After training at the ARC, I went to my friend's place near Irvine Spectrum to have a dinner with group of friends. I was instantly captivated by the reflections of the lighting portrayed on the surface of the swimming pool. The way the lightings are equally distributed on the water, yet it shines as if the lightings were breathing. The illumination near the surrounding palm trees create this beautiful balanced and layered composition of lighting. What amazed me is how this lighting transformed the environment into cinematic. It provides an attraction, shapes my emotion, and creates this welcoming invitation to the space. As the holidays are approaching, this warmth feeling creates another dimension of relaxed and calmness atmosphere. I was laying down on one of those benches, and I perceived this sense of calmness and belonging to the enviroment. 

 This picture is from the very opening of my piece in this year's New Slate, " Shrieks of Outrage". This is honestly one of my favorite cues of the piece. I like how the dancers are almost more alluded to that actually revealed. I wanted the audience to hear the dancers before they actually get to see them, and I really liked Amelie's choice to give us just enough light to see there are people there but not to actually see them in any detail. I feel this opening was not only artistically effective, but aesthetically pleasing as well. 

This picture is from my piece, Reverberant Skin, in New Slate. I love the way the colors in this piece ended up looking on stage. I gave the color palette of light blues, purples and greys to the costume designer and Hayden, my lighting designer ended up using those same colors throughout the piece. This shot captures the lavender color of the lighting highlighting the dancer's bodies and costumes. I think the side lighting allows for the audience to see the movement of the clothing which emphasizes the movement of the dancers. 

 How is it week 10 already!? WHAT!! This photo is from New Slate Tech, i love the  spot light used and the Ring made around them, mimicking their round wide brim hats. Making the focal point of the stage nd this photo, these amazing dancers! The cyc is warm with red at the base and dimming and fading into a darker red the further you travel up towards the lights. For the Sow dancers wore white shirts and in this photo my dancers are wearing black shirts I notice a difference in lighting without the white shirts since the white will take on any color that is placed upon it! Warm red shins highlight form from stage left. From stage right we have purple shins filling in more form and adding dimension to the body and shapes. This picture specifically embodies the color of “feel good” it make slow down and take a deep breath, almost as if the dimness of the lights inspire the calmness of my breath and movement! The Shadows created on the ground make for an interesting addition in t...

  For my final lighting blog, I chose this old photo from a past performance. At the time, I don’t remember what I was doing, probably waiting for a cue but I know I wasn’t thinking about lighting. I was only focused on my job as a dancer. After taking this class, I see this image differently. I notice the warm side light, the blue wash across the stage, and how intentional the shadows feel. I now understand how much work and artistry go into every lighting cue. This class changed the way I experience performance. I’ll move forward with a deeper respect for lighting designers and a stronger awareness of how light shapes movement and meaning.

For this weeks blog, I choose this picture that I took by Fashion Island because of how pretty the sky looked at sunset. The warm colors of the sunset orange and yellow create a line across the photo. The clouds are reflecting the red and pinkish color creating a layer across the light blue skies that you can see in the right upper corner of the picture. In this picture you can also see the changes of intensity of light, the middle is a brighter intensity while the outer edges of the photo are a lower intensity of light.   

  This picture I took during our lighting class actually. I do not remember who's piece was being lit but I saw these shadows of all these colors from the bars. Purple, green, yellow, and pink from what it seems. I thought this was really cool because in the space these colors were not read as clearly. And that is my final blog!

 My submission for my last blog of the quarter, of this class, is of the outside of the student center. Because of the time change, it wasn't until recently that I noticed the lighting outside of the student center. I took this picture around 5 PM after lighting class on Tuesday while me and Cierra were walking back to my car. It stood out to me immediately, and I really really like what they chose to do here with the lighting. There's somethings sort of spooky to it, but not too spooky which I like and I really enjoy the color they chose here. There's more than just this one spot that's lit up, but I immediately thought of leading class when I saw this and took out my phone to take a picture. This was a great class and I am really thankful for Lonnie and Mac.

For my final blog post, I wanted to share a special photo. In early November, I visited the Glamis sand dunes for the first time. Like most people, I enjoy a good sunset. My friends and I took a ride to one of the highest hills to watch the sunset. I was not prepared for the beauty I was about to witness. My iPhone did a good job of capturing the lights, and colors. The way the blue sky blends to the orange, then finally the yellow sun. The way the sun reflects onto the sand, making the sand appear more orange than normal. The bike tracks creating textures on the sand is pleasing to my eyes.   Also looking further into the photo to see all the lovely divots in the mountains. They photograph small but I promise these sand mountains are bigger than they appear. While the photo is breathtaking, I hope you all make the effort to visit this place one day, as I think it is even more special in person.