Ayrton WildSun K-25 TC premieres with Boston Ballet in North America and Paris
Ayrton, and its exclusive US distributor, ACT Lighting Inc, in conjunction with lighting equipment supplier 4Wall Entertainment, were delighted to support Boston Ballet’s 2018–2019 spring season with the provision of Ayrton WildSun K-25 TC LED fixtures for Full on Forsythe, a trio of works from prestigious choreographer William Forsythe. The programme comprises of the World Premiere of Playlist (EP), Forsythe’s first world premiere to be created with an American company since 1992, the North American premiere of Blake Works I, and the return of Pas/Parts 2018.
The lighting for each piece was designed by William Forsythe and Tanja Rühl, while the equipment specification was the responsibility of Boston Ballet’s lighting director, Brandon Stirling Baker, who explains why he chose Ayrton WildSun K-25 TC: “As the lighting director of Boston Ballet it is my responsibility to maintain the work of over 100 international lighting designers in our repertory. I am always looking for creative tools and lighting equipment that allow the designers to create their vision but, most importantly, find equipment that is efficient and reliable enough to endure a month-long season.
“For over twenty years, Boston Ballet has used HMI 4K Fresnels for the work of William Forsythe and many other important choreographers in the world of dance. The HMI Source provides a beautiful quality of white light but not without its own unique consequences. Each HMI Fresnel requires a DMX douser or shutter to ‘dim’ the light during the cues but, more often than not, this outdated technology fails and the fade to black is no longer ‘black’ and results in an unwanted light leak on the stage instead of a clean blackout. For this reason I have been searching for the perfect HMI replacement. Ayrton is a company that I have greatly admired for many years and when I heard about its WildSun K-25 TC, I immediately knew that this could be a great replacement and solution to the HMI problem.”
AyrtonWildSun™K25-TC (True Colour) is an evolution of the WildSun K25, specially geared to shooting and broadcasting in high-definition. It produces an extremely high-quality light of up to 63,000 lumens without flicker, a colour temperature perfectly calibrated at 5700 K, a CRI greater than 92, and a zoom range of 12° to 60°. Its luminous intensity can be fine-tuned using the precision electronic dimmer, and the user can control each concentric circle individually to adjust power or create dynamic effects.
WildSun K-25 TC is the only LED luminaire capable of measuring up to the classic Fresnel HMI 4,000W and 6,000W lights in terms of pure output and is particularly suitable for meeting the stringent lighting demands of sporting events, fashion shows, car shows or any prestigious events requiring high-quality light and perfectly rendered colour.
“The intensity of the Wild Sun is incredible,” confirms Baker. “After conducting many side-by-side tests with manufacturers from all over the world, we found the Ayrton WildSun K25 TC was the only fixture that could compete with the HMI 4K, not only in terms of intensity but also clarity.”
For the premieres of Full on Forsythe, two WildSun K-25 TC fixtures were hung directly over centre stage from where they were used to directly mimic and re-create the clean, cold white light that was created with the classic HMI Fresnel. “We were also able to utilise the WildSun’s ability to change focus, zoom and intensity easily,” says Baker,“to create dynamic visual looks that are completely unique to each dance, without a delay in the creative process.
“A traditional 4kW HMI Fresnel in a ballet repertory light plot limits us to a single lighting focus for the entire run of the ballet. Any focus changes would involve a genie lift and electrics crew to make adjustments which is an expensive and time-consuming process to change a very small focus detail. Replacing the classic 4kW Fresnel with the Ayrton WildSun not only eliminates this old-fashioned re-focus process, but also allows the designer to create a custom focus and zoom range specific to the surrounding scenic environment. This ability to change focus remotely was used in many variations during the cueing process.” The WildSun K-25 TC fixtures were programmed by Jon Gonda from Boston Ballet using a grandMA2 console.
“Ayrton WildSun has an aesthetically beautiful design,” concludes Baker. “It has a clean, elegant look for a theatrical lighting fixture that not only provides a beautiful quality of light but also, visually, can be used as a scenic idea in any live performance.
“Boston Ballet is unique in being the only major ballet company in the United States to have over fifty moving lights in our standard repertory plot. My hope and dream is that the Ayrton WildSun will become a permanent solution to replace the HMI White Light effect that is required, not only on the many ballets that we perform here in Boston, but also on our international tours.”
Full on Forsytheran from 7th-17thMarch at the Boston Opera House with WildSun K25 TC fixtures supplied for the world premiere by 4Wall Entertainment, before transferring to the Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris, France from 9th-11thApril where the units were supplied directly by Ayrton.
Text: Julie harper
Photos: © Angela Sterling
