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Kerstcircus Ahoy lit with Chauvet

Kerstcircus Ahoy has pretty much everything fans expect to find in a circus, from trapeze artists and acrobats to jugglers and clowns, including the Austrian clown Don Christian. But this popular wintertime event, which has been captivating audiences for over a half-century, doesn’t stop there.

Drawing acts from across the world, Kerstcircus Ahoy, which recently completed its 51st season of joy, served up performances that totally surprised anyone who entered the Ahoy arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands, expecting to see typical circus fare. From “Space Elements”, the human pyramid builders from Ukraine, to RCC Aruba and their Caribbean-inspired springboard act, to the gravity-defying young Austrian Stefan Dvorak, this circus featured entertainment that went “above and beyond” (often quite literally) to exceed all expectations.

Supporting these performances and adding to the excitement of the circus was a colorful, and sometimes dramatic, lighting design by Ricky Bouckenhove of Live Systems that featured seventy Chauvet Professional fixtures. Bouckenhove, who has been lighting the circus for twenty-four years, relied on a mainly blue and white color palette to highlight its twelve different acts, which featured performers from sixteen different nations.

At the circus’ center ring, he hung twenty-four Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures on the 19-meter circular truss. Drawing on the 440 W light cannon’s 16-bit dimming, he was able to have smooth fades at the conclusion of acts. Bouckenhove also arranged fourteen Maverick MK2 Wash fixtures on the floor around the edges of the circular ring. These units lit aerial acts, while also colorizing the track itself. An additional twenty MK2 Wash fixtures enhanced the circus’ magical ambience by backlighting the area. At selected points during the circus, the wash fixtures were also used to create a dramatic effect by silhouetting the performers.

There were also twelve Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes in Bouckenhove’s rig. He used these fixtures to light the stands and to underscore high-impact moments with strobe effects. Speaking of his lighting system for the circus, Bouckenhove notes: “Since the acrobats regularly needed target points, it was important that these points were programmed in the correct position and that the moving lights maintained the correct pan and tilt values.”

(Photos: Charles Batenburg/Eva Ruiten/EvaCaptures)

www.chauvetprofessional.com

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