The Béjart Ballet Company Lausanne chooses LED Lighting fixtures from Ayrton.

The Béjart Ballet Lausanne takes delivery of 22 NANDOBEAM™S6 luminaires from Swiss Distributor CAST Switzerland SA

In the past, world-renowned ballet company Béjart Ballet Lausanne always opted for automated wash lights with discharge lamps. This year, a big change is in store behind the dancers and the backdrops, initiated by the talented Dominique Roman, the ballet company’s dedicated Lighting Designer (LD), and Lucas Borgeaud, Chief Electrician.

The two were captivated by the new, powerful Ayrton NANDOBEAM™S6 automated wash and beam fixtures provided by CAST Switzerland, of Villeneuve (canton of Vaud).

The transition to LEDs began three years ago, and it has been a difficult move for Roman, who was accustomed to a very specific kind of colour rendering and range of shades. But with its ultraviolet-like blue, its amazing weight-to-size ratio, and incredible light output, NANDOBEAM™S6 is a technological marvel that has been given a star role in the company’s performances.

Roman and his technical team were seeking the ideal LED wash light to meet their specific needs for powerful emitters and a low-profile in terms of noise, temperature, physical size; and especially, a sharply defined beam that would avoid spill onto the stage borders and legs.

Their criteria for selection were so precise that few manufacturers could come up with lightweight RGBW lamps with saturated colours and a sharp beam.

What tipped the balance from using subtractive colour white-light fixtures in favour of NANDOBEAM™S6 luminaires, was this ability to bathe the stage in saturated colour without emitting any stray light regardless of the beam angle. What’s more, the company’s team had total confidence in Ayrton’s Swiss importer, CAST. Ultimately, Béjart purchased 22 NANDOBEAM™S6 for their company-owned system.

Lucas Borgeaud: Until now, we had an annual rental agreement for these types of fixture, but given the reliability shown by Ayrton products, and after some quick calculations with CAST, we decided to buy our own LED wash lights.

The dynamic NANDOBEAM™S6 luminaires, fitted with 37 15W RGBW LED emitters and an 8-40° zoom optic, are placed behind the borders, bathing the artists in colour. They are used in most of the performances – to wonderful effect.

Lucas Borgeaud: The little anti-halo caps that surround the collimators help to prevent stray light on the borders – which was a continuing problem with the older [discharge] lights. Plus, the colours are magnificent, particularly the range of blues preferred by Dominique Roman, the company’s Lighting Designer. We are very happy with our choice.

Partner CAST Switzerland, who was already providing the company with MA lighting products, is planning on supplying them with even more fixtures, likeAyrton’s Wildsun™-K25, which is expected to replace existing 2.5 and 4kW HMI Fresnels.

Lucas and Dominique are pinning their hopes on the arrival of LED profile fixtures to eliminate the heat and energy inefficiency generated by the remaining discharge-lamp fixtures in their system, which are used only occasionally but must remain continuously struck, while down on dimmer and in shutter cut offs.

Lucas Borgeaud: We’re looking forward to Ayrton’s NandoSpot fitted with blades!

Photo : Gregory Batardon