Show Design
For Be The Disco Ball, light is more than something that illuminates a performance. It is a material to shape, transform and set in motion. We explore this fascination by uniting costumes, choreography and light in one living visual experience.
The creation starts with an imagination, then moves to the atelier, the light-studio and the circus/dance studio before it ends up on its final destination; the stage.
The origin of the Living Light Shows
“It started with a simple fascination: one tiny body movement creating an effect that fills an entire space.” by Founder Ceciel van Slobbe
Combining a background in engineering with a lifelong passion for costume design and movement, Ceciel leads each concept from first idea to finished performance. She designs the costumes and choreography and directs the lighting and overall visual composition, working closely with the team of technical specialists and performers.
As both a dancer and aerialist within the company, Ceciel creates from inside the performance. This keeps the relationship between body, costume and light at the heart of her work while transforming movement into living artworks of reflection and colour.
Choreography creation and Rehearsals
During the light show design the rough outline of the choreography is decided. Together with the team of Dancers and Aerial Dancers we refine and develop the choreography in detail during our rehearsals.
From Atelier to the Stage
Each suit is a construction as much as a costume. The base is reinforced to carry the weight of around 3,000 hand-placed mirrors, prisms or stones, between five and twenty kilos depending on the design, without ever affecting the fit. Only after some hundred hours of construction do the first mirrors go on.
Between Shows
Before every show each mirror is polished; after heavy use, suits come back for repairs and a deep clean. It is continuous, careful work, and it is why suits from 2018 still fly today.
Light Studio, Power Productions
We first design the technical set-up of the lights/stage and then continue to create a show.
Every show is developed and programmed in the Power Productions Light Studio. The creative process begins with the music, with lighting cues and choreography developed side by side to form one visual composition.
Once the design is complete, the entire show is time-coded, precisely synchronising every movement and lighting cue.
Technical partner: www.powerproductions.nl
Sound Design
Although our shows are visual spectacles, Audio is the heartbeat of every show. The music is the base for the creation of the light-show and the choreography. Our sound designers craft the perfect show-track, setting the foundation for an extraordinary visual experience.
Using this track, we meticulously align every light cue and shape the choreography.
The Collection of our handmade Costumes
Every suit in the collection is an original, developed over years of experimenting with light, reflection and materials.
These are the four families they fall into:
Mirror Suits
The Human Disco Balls. Around six kilos of hand-placed mirrors that turn every light beam in the room into a moving reflection.
UV Designs
Thousands of hand-placed UV-reactive stones that transform the performer into a glowing creature under blacklight.
Prism Suits
Over 3,000 glass stones that split white light into all the colours of the rainbow. The suit weighs 20 kilos and is worn for a full choreo.
Combination Suits
The newest work from the atelier merges mirror, prism and neon into a single ten kilo suit, one performance with every effect.
Every costume is paired with its own bespoke light design. See them come to life in the Living Light Shows or get in touch to book a show.