The Canadian premier of Cirque Niagara’s spectacular Avaia show, staged in the 60,000 sq. ft. Celestial Palace big top tent at Rapidsview Park, Niagara Falls, features Robe show lights.
Created by Russian circus impresario Mairbek Kantemirov and sure to be an instant classic, Avaia is one of the most anticipated and powerful productions of 2006, amalgamating rare and beautiful horses, acrobats, and hair-raising theatrical performances.
The Robes were supplied to Soundbox Productions, coordinators of the show’s technical elements, by Robe’s Canadian distributor Intellimix Lighting and Ontario sales rep, Randy Segeren. The fixtures were specified by Soundbox’s lighting and design team, Tran Langford and Jeff Lavallee.
A total of 18 Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs and 24 ColorWash 575 AT fixtures are being utilized for the show as the main effects lights.
The lights are rigged off the king poles of the tent, around the cupola grid in the roof, and also on the ground. In the main grid, ten CS1200ATs and ten CW 575ATs are spaced out to get even coverage right across the performance space. Each of the two front king poles features three 1200s and three 575s, leaving 10 lights for the deck.
The Robes –plus a large generic rig– are controlled from a grandMA lighting console. The show was programmed by lighting director Cooper Smith, programmer Jason Jennings and is operated each day by Laura Toombs.
Soundbox’s Avaia design team specifically liked the smooth color mixing of the 1200s as well as the exceptionally bright output and high quality optics. With a grid height of 33 ft, they needed a unit that would effortlessly cut through to the ground. They comment that the complimentary color mixing between the 1200 and 575 fixtures also works really well for the show, enabling the creation of smooth transitions between the different looks and feels of the performance.
The tented environment is very dusty and also subject to temperature extremities, from freezing cold to hot, sticky, and humid. The three-week preproduction period featured an around-the-clock schedule, and the show is running six days a week.
