EUROPE – LD Luc Lafortune traveled to Paris, Bergamo and Madrid during his cycle of his “Art and Poetry in Stage Lighting” events. The conferences were centered around two of Cirque du Soleil’s most successful shows, Kà and “O.” Lafortune got right down to the roots of the creative process, and shared many behind the scenes stories as well.
More details from Clay Paky (http://www.claypaky.it):
EUROPE – Paris-Bergamo-Madrid: these were the three cities that lighting designer Luc Lafortune visited during his cycle of his “Art and Poetry in Stage Lighting” events. Lafortune’s approach to lighting design features elements that are so artistic that it is defined as “poetry.” His name is inextricably linked to the Cirque du Soleil, whose myth he has helped to create since 1984.
The conferences were centered around two of the Cirque du Soleil’s most successful shows: Kà and “O.” Lafortune got right down to the roots of the creative process through thorough artistic and philological analysis. He explored the contents of each show and the message every scene was intended to conjure up, before moving on to the search for inspiring graphic effects and colors, which leads as a conclusion to the choice of technical tools for lighting the shows.
The Paris Conference was held Feb. 5 at the Grande Halle de la Villette during the SIEL lighting trade show in France. The conference was organized by the SIEL trade fair and sponsored by Sono Magazine and Clay Paky. It sold out with over 150 people present. Luc was able to express himself in French – during the later conferences, in Italy and Spain, the audience was provided with simultaneous translation through headphones for the whole event.
The Bergamo conference on Feb. 11 was organized by Clay Paky at the new Bergamo Fair Conference Centre. More than 200 people attended the conference, despite the difficulties caused by the snow. There were lighting designers and directors from major Italian television networks, staff from lighting service companies and groups of university students studying lighting design.
The last conference took place two days later in Madrid. More than 250 people turned up at the location of the Matadero, a former slaughterhouse which has now become one of the main centers of culture and contemporary art in Spain. The event was organized by Stonex Show Lighting, a Spanish company that has offered technical solutions and professional lighting for the entertainment industry since 1980. Stonex is the exclusive distributor of Clay Paky lights in Spain.
At the end of each of the three appointments, the audience expressed its enthusiastic approval. Lafortune not only came over as a lighting designer with an absolutely original, creative and – in some ways – “rebellious” approach, but also proved to be a great communicator able to express himself in a simple, understandable and engaging way for all.
Pio Nahum, Clay Paky sales and marketing manager, said, “Organizing this cycle of conferences was challenging, but the success of this initiative has rewarded all our efforts. It is clear that those who love the world of entertainment are interested and glad to be told about the artistic approach that lies behind each production, even unconventional ones. Luc’s great expressive simplicity struck everyone. He is a true artist who loves to share his experience, and he does so by accepting to meet with other professionals from the world of lighting. The audience was fascinated by his personality and his creations. I have rarely seen such a long conference, where everyone was glued to their chairs from start to finish!”
