BARI, ITALY - “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk with your eyes turned skyward,” Leonardo DaVinci wrote. Being born in the 15th century, the great genius never flew, though his fertile mind drew up plans for flying machines.
Rather than referring to actual flying, however, his quote speaks to the power of the human imagination to break free of all bounds and soar to new heights. This power pulsates through the music and stage persona of young Italian music sensation, Ultimo, who quite fittingly, began his shows on the 9-city sold-out ‘Ultimo Stadi 2025 – The Fairy Tale Continues” tour with the song “Il Bambino Che Contava le Stelle’ (The Child Who Counted Stars).
The 65-meter long by 24-meter-high stage on Ultimo’s tour supports his flight of imagination and passion The set had a 30-meter catwalk, designed in the shape of the key that the artist wears around his neck, a symbol of his musical journey. A captivating sense of movement and intimacy was created as the singer walked down this catwalk, often touching fans as he went that made the tour’s big venues seem intimate.
These qualities were made even more powerful by flowing deck lighting from the CHAUVET Professional COLORado PXL12 fixtures, supplied by ZaLight, that were artfully positioned around the stage by the show’s designer, the Milan-based Blearred, working with lighting operator Andrea Arlotti, MRX (lighting service), Lemonandpepper (production,) and Vivo Concerti (agency).
Transforming the large stage deck into a dynamic part of the design, the motorized battens added layer after layer of unique visual dimensions to the show. There were moments when they colorized the catwalk around Ultimo as he knelt to play a guitar. At other times flowing light from the battens surrounded him, making it seem as if he were floating in the cosmos, indeed counting the stars.
It was this type of feeling that the designers had in mind when selecting the COLORado PXL12 for this tour. "During the summer tour of Ultimo, we decided to introduce a new type of LED unit: a motorized bar in which each individual pixel is able to move autonomously on a tilt axis,” explained Ivan Russo, co-founder of Blearred. “It was not a simple technical choice, but a creative gesture: we wanted to break the pattern of the usual rigid and symmetrical luminous surfaces, pushing ourselves towards a more lively, more physical, almost choreographic scenic language.
“This technology gave us the freedom to treat light as moving matter, creating kinetic structures capable of changing shape and rhythm over the course of the show,” he continued. “Luminous cages were composed and decomposed, turning into waves. Almost a living stenographic organism."
Waves of motion that seemed to become alive as they appeared and disappeared throughout the show? It was exactly the sort of movement that Leonardo had in mind when he talked about flight centuries ago.
About CHAUVET Professional
CHAUVET Professional offers innovative professional lighting fixtures for the production and touring market as well as permanent installation in theaters, hospitality venues, cruise ships, clubs, television and architainment applications. For more information, please visit www.chauvetprofessional.com
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