Photo Taken by Yasmin Daguilh
More then often, a teacher, adult or employer will open up my resume and see the names of more then a couple local dance studios that I have worked for, under those names they will see "Lighting Designer" , "Assistant Lighting Designer" or "Lighting Director", and question the authenticity or purpose of such a title or position. Main point being that my passion for the arts thrives in something that doesn't get seen very often, yet is as bright as those who step in it.
Lighting developed after my introduction into the theater world . If you asked me to define a Lighting Designer 3 years ago, I would have told you that a Lighting Designer is a person who uses the newest technology and techniques to produce a visual effect that coincides with the performance or show, in other words...A person who could make really cool colors, angles and shadows. As Young and naive as I was, I had not yet grasped the concept of what a lighting designer actually does, and how much psychology is involved in it.
After deciding that Lighting Design will be my ultimate path in the arts and as a professional career, that is after I become a pilot, I took time to read as much as I can about the so-called art that of which is Lighting Design. Many people never take the time to think about how much goes into planning and careful execution of a Lighting design, it is much more then just turning on and off lights that have different colors. Lighting design in itself is a much more philosophical, subconscial and psychological art then it appears, and while that may go unseen, it is not left to be abandoned, for once you understand it, you then realize the impact a real lighting design may have on the audience, viewer, and perhaps yourself.
Say I took a piece of construction paper, and I held one up to you that was the color orange. I want you to tell me if I am wrong in thinking that your first thought would be something related to the sun, to heat, to warmth. Psychologically it is programmed in our minds that "Orange" "Amber" "Yellow" "Red" these colors will always be associated with the concept of warmth, an interesting question maybe whether it is due to the sheer fact that our sun is our source of energy, the color of our warm blood is red, or fire on the normal occasion that we witness it is red. We have become so in-tact with this concept that it becomes subconscious to us to the point that entering a "warm-lit" room, while most of may not notice, will in effect make us more comfortable then if we where to enter a room lit by florescent or "cool-light". Alternatively there are some situations where entering this "cool-light" may calm us, relax us and even put us to sleep. There are a couple situations where this has occurred, Such as Air Canada's Lighting installations in the interior of there 767-300 aircraft, lit in a brilliant sky blue which may put some weary passengers to sleep, or in my case, the installation of a Purple/blue gel in the overhead florescent lighting in the sound booth (in other words the crew hang out) at my school's theater that puts me to sleep when class just isn't in my agenda. Which ever the case may be, lighting and more importantly the color choices and types of lighting used will effect the viewer if not consciously, then subconsciously.
The first step I take in preparing my Lighting Design for a Ballet is attending rehearsal's usually a month or so before the in-theater dates, this allows me to view the choreography, listen to the music and take notes. In that time I'm able to visualize concepts, colors, transitions, and overall my interpretation of the piece, and how I can incorporate a Lighting Design that only adds to the piece and isn't a separate part of the piece. I always thought, if you as the audience cant notice my lighting then I'm doing a good job, after all, the show is about ballerina's and the story they are trying to tell, not my lighting. One subject I always have to take into consideration is the size of the show, the audience and the show itself. My main priority as a Lighting designer especially working locally is to light faces. To face the reality of the business the majority of the audience at a ballet is only there to see there son or daughters bright face across the stage and just that. I have not yet reached the level of professionalism where I can sacrifice a dancer's face for the concept and incorporation of a drastic lighting angle, Those are usually styles found in larger productions and companys that perform for theater and ballet patrons as opposed to moms and dads, nevertheless I do try my best to exceed the basic requirement of lighting a dancers face, and because I am a stubborn asshole there will be times, rare they may be, yet they still exist, when I will sacrifice a small portion (usually seconds) of "face lighting" for "Concept lighting" , but only to help the piece itself in its presentation.
Next in my design comes the standard, side lighting. The picture above is two friends of mine, Alex and Rachel performing in the Fall dance recital at my school, as you may notice I chose this photo to present, because it captures the pure elements in my lighting design, first the face lighting, which we have already discussed and you may see in the photo, there faces are pretty well-lit to complement there skin and clothing, and second Side lighting. Otherwise known as the "Accent" light or the "Highlight", Side lighting is what turns a regular performance in the theater or the arts, into a ballet standard. You will never find a Ballet lighting designer who does not use side light, for the simple fact that side lighting exposes the art form itself! Dance, when you light a Ballerina from the side, you reveal a different view to the audience, you create a depth, where they can now see as form. You put a light on the choreography and the story that choreography is saying. These are only the basic elements of angles chosen for lighting ballet, and there psychological reason, how ever in lighting, angles mean different pictures, different forms, different storys and there are always a un-countable amount of different lighting angles and positions a designer may use for his visualization.
Finally my favorite, controversial element that will always surface in Lighting Design especially in Lighting Ballets. Color and texture. Color is the most controversial because color is not defined but only in our minds, color is merely what we make it, what we interpret it as, going back to my example of "Warm" and "Cool" colors, as an audience, when I light a dancer with "Cool" Side lighting, I am subconsciously tapping into your mind and I will influence a certain level of feelings, or emotions depending on how you interpret that color, it is scientific fact that we all generally perceive colors as the person next to us, that ,being the test I would have given you at the beginning of this article with the construction paper, now when you apply this to dance, you start involving a psychological field into the matters of lighting design, and it does not end with just "Warm" and "Cool" colors, but also expands into different colors, different textures and shadows, and when you combine this with your lighting position, and give it meaning to the piece it self, you have then created a true Lighting Design.
Although it may seem as though I just "Light" shows, and have an extraordinary amount of knowledge regarding many subjects technological, I engage in this art form because of it's psychological aspect, and because of the door that this psychology opens for me to express my view as an artist, by painting a scene with lights. you may not notice it but there's a reason why I chose R15 color instead of R16, or R36 instead of R34, or why I hang 64 side lights, and attend rehearsals a month before the show opens. Lighting is much more then just turning a couple lights on and making them look cool, lighting effects the entire audience whether they notice or not, and it does so subconsciously and it will psychologicaly effect what they are viewing and how they are viewing it. Just as dancers are dancing on stage together, to convey there message across through the choreography and the music, My lights dance with them to help them express the message. My lights dance with them to present to you a painting, a picture, a life telling you a story.
Michael Espinal
Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts
Ballet Lighting Designer.
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