Circlassica returned to Madrid for the 2024-2025 season staged at IFEMA Madrid’s big white tent, with a new edition, la historia mundial continúa (Circlassica, the world story continues), produced by Productores de Sonrisas and lit by Juanjo Llorens, who selected 40 Robe LEDBeam 150s, 22 Spiiders, 20 MegaPointes, 16 LEDBeam 350 and 14 ESPRITES.
“I took advantage of numerous features on all these fixture types,” explained Llorens, “power, different types of looks and lenses, varying LED sources from RGBW multichip to a single high-power white chip, and also discharge lamps.”
Llorens works with a team of “highly skilled and creative imagineers” – a set designer, screens director, artists, artistic director, sound designer, choreographer and overall technical director, and at the top of the pyramid, Creative Director, Manuel González – one-third of Productores de Sonrisas. “The presentation and the lighting must appeal to children and help ensure they don’t get bored, so keeping everyone enthralled and engaged is the goal,” stated Llorens.
The core lighting was rigged on a box truss hanging between the tent’s two rear poles and the front arch, a space offering up around 12m of headroom above the 12m diameter circular stage floor. The rigging infrastructure around five prominent LED screens was also used to facilitate some lighting elements, and the LED surfaces were positioned to give clear sightlines around the whole marquee.
A rear bridge truss was flown upstage of the box truss at 10m but in front of the set to provide positions for backlight and effects fixtures, as well as some dynamic movement without distracting or obstructing the performers. Three trusses each side of the marquee – left, centre and right – were used for front light positions and to generally open up the space. Two central circular trusses were flown directly above the stage / ring, one with a 12-diameter flown at 14m high, and inside of that a 3m diameter truss trimmed at 18m.
For more side positions, there were four drop-down booms at 4m high each – two on the legs in front of the set, and two coming down from the front of the box truss. Additionally, floor lighting upstage and in front of the set enhanced entrances and exits through the stage doors.
ESPRITE is a fixture Llorens has recently started using, and he takes full advantage of “the blades, effects, colour wheel, colour mixing, gobos, animation wheel, zoom, and of course, the fantastic brightness.” These fixtures were distributed between the box truss, the circular truss and the top truss.
LEDBeam 150s were dotted all over all the trusses and used to light the audience in both spot and wash modes. “There is so much flexibility in its zoom and colour mixing,” he notes on the LEDBeam 150s, utilised to produce highly concentrated light and as broader brushstrokes of light at the various times he needed to ‘paint’.
The ones on the box and side trusses were great for lighting faces and for side lighting singing acts, presenters and juggling routines, allowing the latter to keep a clear view of their diabolos, clubs or whatever implements they were juggling with. “Sometimes the props are thrown very high, so it’s vital to avoid shining light directly in their faces!” explained Llorens.
LEDBeam 350s were placed on the ground and around the scaffolding surrounding the band at various heights so the musicians could be seen and used for producing broader beams than the LEDBeam 150s.
Spiiders on the box truss were ideal for ambient light. Llorens notes that artists like Spiiders as a more gentle and subtle light source for lighting larger groups of people. For Llorens, MegaPointe added plenty of magic and was the ‘secret creative weapon’ in the show. “It can be used to produce perfect patterns, it is super-bright and very reliable,” he enthused.
MegaPointes were located around the box truss and on the drop-down booms, on the front and rear legs of the ground support and on the front truss. The overall lighting was designed with dynamics and versatility at the fore to cover the wide array of different artists and acts appearing onstage – from circus to dance, including musical performances and magicians.
“I enjoy establishing a bond with the artist and starting to connect with them, which is essential for making them feel comfortable and safe,” he explained. “The job is much more like being in a family than people imagine. I feel like I’ve been adopted.” It’s that feeling of camaraderie and belonging that he feels makes circus “the greatest show in the world”.
Llorens worked closely with Programmer, Pau Farreny; Lighting Operator and Crew Chief, Iván González; Lighting Technicians and Followspot Operators, Guillermo Cello and Gonzalo Gerbolés; Lighting Assistants, Cori Bustamante, Juan Elvira and Rafa XVII; Technical Manager, Flavio Bañuelos; Infrastructure Manager, Marco Monteiro; Technical Director, Rafa González of Productores de Sonrisas; Press and Media Director, María González. Most of the lighting equipment was owned by Productores de Sonrisas with the rest supplied by rental company Smart Fussion.
