Plot Of The Week: Arvydas Buinauskas—Orpheus, Eurydice

Based on the popularity of Live Design's 31 Days Of Plots in December each year, we have decided to present Plot Of The Week, with a light plot (or plots) per week until December 2023, when the next 31 Days Of Plots begins.

Third in this series is Orpheus, Eurydice with lighting and scenography by Arvydas Buinauskas of AB Light in Vilnius, Lithuania. Based on the ancient Greek myth, re-imagined as an interdisciplinary performance of modern ballet, Orpheus, Eurydice is based on the modern scientists' ideas about time and why we divide it into past, present, and future. Orpheus embodies the time which we can feel and measure. Eurydice is a strange and alien world beyond the time with uncomfortable light. The ballet premiered on November 29, 2022.

Arvydas Buinauskas—Orpheus, Eurydice

 

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"Everything during the performance had to be as one. Nothing can stand out. So our job to make a natural flow of light. Which made the performance even more intense," says Buinauskas. "Every piece of equipment was used with a specific place, as if they were actors that participated in the script. The Neo Six was used to create a "lighting pole" which had to follow two main actors. The Minuit One Phantom helped us create an effect of a portal. The DTS Synergy 5 Profile was the perfect tool to light up the actors because of its profile function. The AX3 Lightdrop by Astera helped us to light up the architectural elements in the location; because they are easily portable it made our job during the montage easier. The MDG ATMe is used by AB Light because we do not know any other device that can work this perfect with haze and help other lighting devices stand out. The DTS Katana helped us to light up the performers in a delicate way."

The main color was a cold white: "The idea was to use lighting as a tool to enhance the feeling of coldness," notes Buinauskas, who points out that his biggest challenge "was the location itself. It is not a place that is made for concerts and even more for a ballet performance. But this is the key of creating something interesting. Try to create something where it does not belong. You will always find a way. And that way will lead you to so many findings that are worth your time."

Arvydas Buinauskas—Orpheus, Eurydice

 

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Credits:

Choreographer: Martynas Rimeikis

Composers: Albertas Navickas and Jūra Elena Šedytė

Libretto author: Rimantas Ribačiauskas

Set and lighting designer: Arvydas Buinauskas

Dancers: Jeronimas Krivickas and Julija Stankevičiūtė 

Costume designer: Juozas Valenta

Contemporary music duo: Twenty Fingers Duo (cellist Arnas Kmieliauskas, LMTA PhD student Lora Kmieliauskaitė (violin, contemporary music. Specialization in Contemporary and Improvisational Music, LMTA Chamber Ensemble Department, class of Prof. Indrė Baikštytė)

Lighting gear:

High End Systems Hog 4

Lighting software: Capture

Set design software: Sketchup +Enscape

Fixtures:

·       Minuit Une IVL™ 

·       Laserworld RTI NEO SIX 

·       DTS Synergy 5 profile

·       DTS Katana 

·       MDG ATMe

More: Plots Of The Week 2023