Canada The Cirque du Soleil's Varekai, which has been touring the world since 2002, returned to Montreal, Quebec in December 2013 for its re-launch as Arena Shows. The production team proposed to lighting designer, Nol van Genuchten the deployment of the BlackTrax realtime tracking solution from CAST BlackTrax Ltd for moving light tracking of performers.

"As lighting designer for the very first edition of Varekai, it's great to be working on it again as it evolves. With the new arena tour, Varekai is hosted at a different location each week and presents its own lighting challenges allowing me to adapt the lighting to 'the arena' of each new environment," said van Genuchten.

"We introduced BlackTrax as an operational efficiency and cost saving tool as well as a way of calibrating lighting highlights to track performers on the stage area. Blac

Belgium - Belgium based entertainment engineering specialists Wicreations combined their expertise and skills to develop and build a dynamic and sophisticated special performance structure, complete with a full motion control solution, to facilitate a spectacular show featuring 37 international artists including 11 aerial performers.

The show, Odyseo, was devised by artistic director Pascal Jacob to commemorate the 150th anniversary of world leasing Belgian chemicals and plastics manufacturer Solvay. Fifteen performances took place over 10 days in a special tented venue installed at the Solvay Campus HQ in Brussels.

Brussels based Y. Services handled all the artistic, technical and show production and scenography under the direction of Yvon van Lancker, well known for his work with Cirque du Soleil founder Franco Dragone in Las Vegas.

Wicreations was approached by Yvo

UK - RUD Chains Ltd is one of the world's largest manufacturers of round steel chain components and systems, producing top quality chains and applications to suit a vast selection of working environments. RUD has held key positions in the machine construction industry for over 140 years, specifically in the areas of forming, welding, heat treatment and surface technology. RUD is known in the industry as one of the leading hoist manufacturers and suppliers for a wide range of hoist chains made from highly wear resistant round steel chains according to EN 818-7 for motor driven and manual hoists. RUD hoist chain can be supplied to suit a variety of project sizes from the smallest size - 3 x 9 mm up to the world's largest - 32 x 90 mm.

The advantages of RUD hoist chain is impressive, offering an extremely high resistance to wear due to its robust surface and depth hardness resultin

Vietnam - Continuing to expand the successful Vuvuzela Beer Club brand in Vietnam, the Golden Gate Group recently held a grand opening for another Vuvuzela Beer Club on Truong Son Street, the gateway to the heart of Saigon from Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

As with the other Vuvuzela Beer Clubs, audio specialists and Van Damme cable exponents, QV Sound, designed the sound system to meet the critical demands of the Golden Gate Group's management. The sound system needed to achieve high sound pressure levels, high quality sound, and enough bass to "rock" the crowd. To achieve this QV sound used high quality Neutrik connectors and Van Damme cabling throughout.

QV's business development manager Mr Quoc Nguyen said, "We always use Van Damme cables and fittings from VDC Trading wherever possible because they are trouble free, they represent excellent value and f

UK - The Lights, a contemporary venue in the heart of Andover in Hampshire, recently underwent a renovation project to improve health and safety for stage light rigging, and called upon one of Doughty Engineering's main UK distributors, Hawthorn Theatrical Ltd, who knew exactly what kit to install.

Mark Lambert, property services manager for The Lights, which is owned and managed by Test Valley Borough Council, explained, "Reducing the need to work at height was our main objective with this project, and although safety was the number one priority for us, we also needed to be cost conscious. Following agreement on a suitable and affordable system with Hawthorn Theatrical, the company was appointed as the main contractor. Hawthorn subsequently specified Doughty Engineering as their hoist supplier."

Alan Jackson, Hawthorns said, "Following an initial site visit by

UK - Mantracourt have announced that its BroadWeigh wireless load monitoring system is now available with a dedicated flight case.

The new, robust and lockable flight case provides protection and security for the equipment, as well as providing wheels and heavy duty handles for ease of transportation.

The BroadWeigh portable wireless system offers real-time, simple, effective and accurate load monitoring for rigging professionals, enabling them to monitor and log the precise loads on any given rigging point.

"We have been working closely with the entertainment industry in the development of the BroadWeigh systems," said Louise Stubbs, marketing coordinator at Mantracourt. "Having refined and proven the technology, we took on board feedback from our customers that for temporary and touring applications we needed to provide some form of protection and ease of ha

Russia - Numerous products from Germany-based ChainMaster have been utilised for the XXIIth Winter Olympics currently being held in the Russian town of Sochi. ChainMaster has been active in Russia and the neighbouring states since 1998, and in 2004 opened ChainMaster Consulting Office Russia.

In addition to several smaller projects, ChainMaster's activities in Sochi have mainly centred on equipping the Bolshoy Ice Dome and the Iceberg Skating Palace, each of which is capable of accommodating up to 12,000 spectators. It is planned to stage the ice hockey matches in the Bolshoy Ice Dome and the artistic and short track ice skating events in the Iceberg Skating Palace.

In each of these arenas, ChainMaster equipment forms part of a variety of installations - most notably the system for raising and lowering the two giant video cubes. Here, safety was the paramount concern governing

Europe - Le Maitre is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its renowned G300 Smoke Machine - an industry standard around the globe which has been widely adopted by theme parks, theatres, cruise ships and the emergency services for breathing apparatus training.

The G300 was Le Maitre's second generation high powered smoke machine, following on from the Smoke Processor 3 series, and at the time of its launch was commented on by competitors as setting the standard by which all other machines would be judged. Le Maitre's goal at the time was quite simply to make a machine that was better than anything else on the market. This has clearly proved to be the case with sales still going strong and many of the unique features still not being able to be emulated by other manufacturers.

Le Maitre came up with and patented its 'Layered Block System' called Genesis - hence the 'G' of G300. T

UK - PLASA has announced the launch of a major new industry survey designed to help guide the Association's future development of technical qualifications for the industry.

PLASA is carrying out a survey of employers and technicians across both theatre and live events in the UK in relation to the further development of qualifications and are calling for participation from employers and technicians in the live events and theatre sector. It is hoped data will emerge on how many technicians are working, both employed and freelance, and in which areas of specialism - and it will assess the appetite of the industry for further vocational qualifications beyond the National Rigging Certificate.

Matthew Griffiths, CEO of PLASA said: "This is an essential piece of research for the entertainment technology sector that will be vital in setting PLASA's skills planning over the coming

UK - PRG (Production Resource Group) - a leading supplier of entertainment and event technology - has selected Prolyte truss for its European trussing inventory.

PRG provides integrated services and equipment, including audio, video, lighting, rigging, staging, and scenery and automation systems, and has chosen Prolyte to supply a structured platform of complementary truss products. The core offering will include a range of trussing from the compact H30V series through to more heavy-duty systems such as S36V and S52V trusses, encompassing some items powder-coated in black.

The initial investment exceeds a staggering 10,000 metres of trussing; creating a considerable modular stock which PRG plans to expand on in the future.

The wide and versatile range of trussing systems that Prolyte offers ties in seamlessly with the variety of markets that PRG serves, enabling single disci

UK - Show technology, control and integration specialist the FIX8 Group is "absolutely delighted" with its latest purchase of flight cases from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire based manufacturer 5 Star Cases, and this brings their total now to over 60 x 5 Star built cases.

Specially modified shock mounted 19" rack systems have been customized to fit FIX8's individually spec'd media server systems. The media server's racks are uniform in width and depth, but vary in height from between 12 and 30 units.

In addition to the actual media server computers, the racks also house all the required peripherals needed for a complete media server video processing system, including PPUs, support racks and cameral channel control racks.

FIX8 also has more cases which are designed to house four 24 inch monitors, complete with DVI cables and stands - so the contents in the two differe

UK - Manchester based lighting and rigging specialist dbn has designed, supplied and installed a highly effective production lighting rig for the Albert Hall in Manchester - a new 2000 capacity venue in a former Methodist meeting hall dating back to 1910 in the heart of the city.

The space - original features including double height windows with stained glass detail and a magnificent organ fully renovated with pipes left exposed - has been lovingly restored to its former splendour and opened as Manchester's live music and event space by independent owners Trof.

Trof have a penchant for discovering found spaces and turning them into buzzing entertainment hubs, and the Albert Hall is no exception as it gears up for full operation with promoters and private clients clamouring to book it for bands, comedy and cabaret shows, club nights, parties and corporate events.

dbn's Stephe

UK - James Thomas Engineering has announced the imminent departure of its sales manager, Andy Walters, after a career spanning 21 years with the company.

Walters, son of the company's co-founder John Walters, has chosen to take up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join specialist UK model makers, Amalgam.

Walters' passion for cars is legendary having collected model cars for his entire life and been instrumental in establishing James Thomas Engineering as a sponsor of Jack Goff, the industry's adopted racing driver and BTCC champion.

"Amalgam is a very well-respected, highly-specialised UK manufacturer of scale model cars for top end clients," says Walters. "Hard though it will be to leave JTE, I am very excited by the prospect of new horizons that this move gives."

"Andy is an irreplaceable member of the JTE team, both in terms of his character

UK - Brilliant Stages has won accolades at two of the industry's recent annual awards ceremonies. On Monday 10 February, they picked up the award for Favourite Set Construction Company (sponsored by J&C Joel) at the TPi Awards, held at Novotel London West. This year hosted by Huey Morgan, the TPi Awards recognised contributions across 27 categories. Over 1000 people attended from all corners of the live music business.

The evening incorporated a special tribute to Mark Fisher - a name synonymous with the evolution of live scenic event design over the past three decades. Tony Bowern, Brilliant Stages director, said: "Brilliant Stages and I have had the privilege of working with Mark and Stufish for more than 20 years, and we were pleased to host Cristina Garcia, Ray Winkler and a number of the Stufish team on one of our tables at the awards."

The following night at th

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) will showcase a selection of the latest lighting, rigging and video solutions alongside their in-house Express custom cable, custom gel, & lamp services, and other popular consumables available for next day delivery - at BVE London 2014, Excel (hall/stand D20).

The stand will feature some of the many marques which AC-ET is the exclusive UK reseller for - including Chroma-Q, Mole-Richardson, Spotlight and James Thomas Engineering lighting solutions, Jands lighting and media control, Green Hippo media servers, LedGo LED video screens and floors, and Columbus McKinnon chain hoists. Other leading authorised brands showcased on the stand include Philips Selecon lighting, Manfrotto and Avenger stands and grip, Litec and Prolyte trussing, Petzl PPE equipment, and Crosby, Tractel and A.C. Rigging hardware accessories.

See in action new Chro

Germany - At this year's ProLight+Sound in Frankfurt Gerriets' stand will be designated entirely to the subject of Acoustics.

Acoustically effective textiles have been an issue for Gerriets for a while now. The company now has its own acoustics department which is entrusted with developing and applying acoustically effective materials and systems for use in stationary as well as in flexible installations.

Basically, Gerriets offers three different acoustic components: Sound absorbing textiles, sound reflecting textiles and sound permeable textiles. In addition sound insolating curtains can be manufactured by means of combining different textiles in a certain way. All of these materials can be installed stationary as well as on mobile systems such as roller banners, scissor lifts or track systems.

To present all these information and materials bundled Gerriets has printed a c

UK - Hoist UK has added Wayne Ridgeley to their technical team as design / project engineer. Wayne has been in the lifting industry all of his working life, having been previously employed by Aabacus Cranes, The Rossendale Group, Camlok and more recently with Stahl Cranes working predominantly within the explosion proof (ATEX) equipment sector of the industry.

Hoist UK director, Paul Jordan comments, "Having Wayne join our team is a major asset for the company, as it is always difficult to employ a high quality design engineer with a proven track record in the industry."

Paul Jordan adds, "Wayne has a vast knowledge of standard lifting equipment, but his knowledge within the specialised cranes and lifting equipment sector will be a real advantage to us as the company grows, and especially assisting with specialist projects that we are working on."

Wayne R

UK - The story behind the re-launch of UK live event health and safety provider Stagesafe is one that could happen to any of us, at any time. In 2012, after nearly 35 years in event production and health & safety management, Stagesafe founder Chris Hannam began his struggle against cancer. The award-winning pioneer whose contributions to live production include introducing the risk assessment concept, as well as numerous other major safety initiatives, Hannam had previously been plagued by a string of illnesses, and soldiered on through all of them. But his cancer diagnosis slammed on the brakes.

He says, "As I was losing my strength, both physically and mentally, my business began to suffer. Being unable to travel meant that work became increasingly difficult to the point where I had to stop. Losing clients affected my income so acutely that I've almost been living on thin

UAE - Two partnering agreements have helped leading event specialists, Spendlove increase their service offering for clients across the Middle East.

Spendlove's 'Smart Partner' programme sees the company enter agreements with European based businesses operating in the events industry that are looking to win work internationally. Spendlove's COO, Mike Smith has announced the company's latest 'Smart Partners' as temporary inflatable structure suppliers, Evolution Dome and temporary water and waste management specialists, MTD.

"The idea behind the Smart Partner programme is to not only encourage collaboration between the event industry's leading suppliers but also to create viable business opportunities for both partners," explains Mike. "Having been operating in the Middle East for 5 years, we have seen the growth of the live event production sector and are keen t

UK - Blackout created a bespoke fabric backdrop for Beyonce as she performed a glittering rendition of her latest single XO for the Brit Awards 2014 at London's O2.

The drapes and rigging specialists, led by project director Kevin Monks, collaborated with Brits TV and Beyonce's production team to install an 8m wide by 12m fine gauze high speed roller screen which became the centre piece of the star's simple yet glamorous performance.

In collaboration with set company, Steel Monkey, the team installed three steel boxes upstage of the screen, clad with multiple layers of white voile to create a series of projection surfaces for XL video to display creative content. At the opening of the performance, Beyonce stood between the fine gauze and a giant close up of her face was projected live onto the screen, appearing to the audience as if suspended in mid-air.

As the star b

UK - The International Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference 2014 formally opened bookings for the June event this week.

ITEAC 2014: The Future of Performance Spaces - The People, The Places, The Technologies, has recorded its highest pre-registered delegate interest in the Conference's history and has been inundated with ideas for papers & content from those interested in contributing from around the world.

The opening delegate rate has been held at 2010 prices for those registering early for ITEAC 2014. Further discounts are available to members of OISTAT (International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians), the ABTT (Association of British Theatre Technicians) membership and members of its Partner Organisations.

Developing themes for the fourth three-day quadrennial conference, being held at the University of London's Senate H

USA - Would you like to earn recognition for your expertise as an entertainment rigger or electrician and become one of the first people to get the call? Get your application in today to take the ETCP Paper and Pencil Examinations at USITT in Ft. Worth!

Having ETCP Certification demonstrates that you are in the top third of the industry professionals in North America; furthermore, to maintain your certification, you must accrue continuing education credits which shows your employer that you are current with industry developments and practices.

The ETCP Examinations will be given at USITT in Ft. Worth. All three ETCP examinations will be given in one session the morning of Saturday, 29 March, 2014. Candidates who wish to take more than one exam should contact ETCP. Members and employees of members of USITT receive a $100 discount on examination fees. Interested applicants must

USA - TMB and AC Power Distribution have celebrated the delivery of the 1,000th ProPower Rack Panel Distribution (RPD) system. The latest ProPower RPD rack was handed over at a special ceremony at TMB's global headquarters earlier this month.

"Our sale of the 1,000th RPD system comes as TMB's ProPower brand continues to enjoy increasing popularity with entertainment and live event professionals worldwide," says TMB sales manager, Stephanie Kilburg. "Continuously enhanced to maintain its quality advantage, ProPower RPD remains the most reliable, versatile (and good looking!) power distro out there. We look forward to continuing to grow our long-standing and successful partnership with AC Power."

"ProPower RPD offers the finest dollar-for-performance ratio available," adds James Davey of AC Power Distribution. "The fact that TMB has supplied th

UK - Stage Technologies has supplied a stage engineering system for the newly reopened Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, UK. The system is based on a specification designed by Charcoal Blue consultants and the Everyman Trust that focuses on flexibility and future expansion. This combined both automated and non-powered engineering applications spread throughout the fly tower, thrust grids, and at stage level with a completely re-configurable and removable staging and seating rostra.

Stage Technologies was hired by main contractor Gilbert Ash. The automation system utilises a Nomad Control Desk and a Wireless Solo to control a flying system comprising BigTow fly bar winches and sidebar winches; TipTow Point Hoists (TTPH) with swivelling gimbal pulleys; and variable speed positioning chain hoists (CH:i). Hardware was installed to enable the TTPH and CH:i to be moved between Thrust and

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