Top Slovakian TV Show "Let's Dance" is being lit with Robe moving lights, specified by lighting designer Martin Kubanka and supplied by leading lighting rental company Q-99.

The show is recorded live from the PKO Culture & Leisure Studios in Bratislava, produced by Oreo and broadcast live each week by the Markiza TV channel. It's Slovakia's first series of "Let's Dance", which sees 10 celebrities from Slovakia and the Czech Republic pair up with dance professionals and demonstrate their skills on the dancefloor, with one couple voted off each week by the public. It's proving a great popular success, drawing spectacular ratings.

Kubanka landed the lighting design role after his work on the Slovakian Superstar show for the same production company. On Let's Dance he is working with director Peter Nunes, DOP Jaroslav Zaman and set designer Daniel Sichman.

Q-99 first had to install 12 new rigging points in the PKO Studios – which were not set up for large productions - in order to rig a box truss over the dancefloor area, onto which many of the lighting fixtures are hung .

There's also Robe fixtures dotted around the floor and on a raised ledge at the back of the orchestra area at the far end of the hall. Kubanka chose Robe ColorSpot and ColorWash 250 AT fixtures for the perimeter of the dancefloor, 18 were selected for their small size and bright light output which streaks dramatically across the floor, contrasting with the overhead lighting. At the rear of the orchestra stand are six ColorWash 575 ATs.

These are the only fixtures that are seen on camera, all the other light-sources are overhead and therefore concealed .

It is a challenging show to light with it's ever-changing pace and dynamics. Each week there's a different stylistic dance theme, e.g. tango, samba, disco, Latin, etc., and for each programme, Kubanka has to make each pair's performance look and feel different on camera and for the live audience.

The ticket prices are high and the evening's entertainment also features a lavish buffet and champagne reception following the recording, so the lighting also has to generally re flect a sense of glamour and lavishness. “Using a variety of Robe fixtures gives me plenty of options” he says, “I never run out of features or combinations of effects, colours or beam angles” he comments, adding that without doubt they are the best lights for the job.

This includes 10 Robe ColorSpot 1200 and 8 ColorWash 1200 ATs and 10 Robe Scan 575 XTs. They are used for many effects including gobo washes onto the dancefloor. There's also 12 PARs with Rainbow Scrollers on the front, focussed on the orchestra, providing a contrast to the Robes 575's that shoot through from the back. The lighting picture is completed with 4 follow spots.

Q-99 is additionally supplying an MDG IceFog-Q system and hazers, MA dimmers and a GrandMA console, which is operated by Peter Cernak. The show is broadcast live every Sunday night at 8 p.m.

For more press information contact marketing department ROBE Show Lighting on e-mail: marketing@robe.cz