Clay Paky Tours with Jennifer Lopez in Minsk

Jennifer Lopez's dynamic Dance Again world tour came alive in Minsk, Belarus with the help of a rig of Clay Paky luminaires.

Lighting designer Sean Burke's vision was for a fast-paced lighting show to match Lopez's dance-inspired music and passionate choreography -- and it was met by Belarus'-based Ilya Piatrouski of FE Belimlight whose inventory of Clay Paky fixtures stepped up to the challenge.

"Arriving in Minsk, all luminaires needed to be sourced locally, so we were relying on local supplier Belimlight to come up with the goods," explains Burke. "The system was to comprise of Clay Paky units in the majority. Given the quantity of fixtures required for the performance, we had a mixture of different types of Alpha profile and spot fixtures. Having not used them many times, I was looking forward to seeing what they could do."

Piatrouski comments: "Sean wanted super-bright, super-fast fixtures to deliver the beam effects his design demands, so we chose to use Clay Paky Alpha Spots HPE 1500, Clay Paky Sharpys, and A.leda Wash K10 because we felt the Alpha Spot is the better spot on the market."

The Clay Paky Alpha Spots HPE 1500 provided the required dynamic lighting from the top trusses, side fills, and vertical upstage frames. The K10s were positioned on the floor, and the Sharpys were rigged at the bottom of the main video screen. "Sharpy is an amazing fixture," continues Piatrouski. "They provided stunningly bright and fast beams. Sean was looking for a small, powerful unit to position at the bottom of the screen to fill stage with dynamic beam -- and he got it!"

However, it was the K10s that provided the real surprise for Piatrouski: "They really are much brighter and faster than comparable fixtures on the market. Sean used it with aerial beam effects and like a wash fixture and said he was amazed how effective it was ... A.leda are very new LED units and they really surprised me. They have a fantastic zoom and a good fat beam, are fast and responsive and offer an excellent range of color and brightness."

Lopez's visit to Minsk marked her first ever appearance in Belarus. The Minsk Arena Complex is unique in its complexity and functionality not only in Belarus but also in Europe, offering a multisports and entertainment arena for 15,000 spectators, a skating stadium for up to 3,000 spectators, and a velodrome for 2,000 spectators.

"We're delighted that our newly launched A.leda Wash K10 luminaires are already lighting up major international stars like Jennifer Lopez," says Clay Paky's CCO Pio Nahum. "The A.Leda series are the first professional Clay Paky fixtures to use LEDs as light sources, so naturally we're thrilled that they're not only out there doing what they do best but also being received so enthusiastically by such well respected lighting designers and distributors."

See Clay Paky at PLASA Focus: Stamford, November 12-13.