iLUMiDance
Utilizing electro-luminescent (EL) wire, fiber optic fabric, black light and other special effects, create a world of wonder in their newest production iLumiDance. Delighting audiences young and adult with its magic and humor, iLumiDance is a tour-de-force of virtuosic dancing and cutting-edge technology. RDT is excited to be able to present this sophisticated dance and technology show in a variety of performance venues. Designed to for ease of touring and set-up in both fully equipped theaters and alternative performing spaces, the only technical requirements for presenting the iLumiDance show are a space that can be fully darkened, four 120 volt AC outlets, and a wall or pipe on which to hang the iLumiDance backdrop.
ilumiDance opens on a darkened stage with only a Black Light instrument illuminating the puppets and dancers so that viewers are immersed in an undersea world where creatures appear to float, swim and dance through the dark water. As the dance progresses, mysterious land animals appear, created through RDT’s signature partnering between two and sometimes three dancers who together form one fantastic creature. Their world of black and white is suddenly interrupted by a sorceress dressed in a gown and headdress of iridescently blue fiber-optic fabric which swirls around her as she dances. Following her lead, humanoids dressed in light suits of EL wire enter to dance vigorously through the space to high-voltage West African drum rhythms.
As Act One concludes, gigantic colorful insects and butterflies fly around the dancers on the darkened stage. In Act Two, utilizing proprietary technology designed exclusively for RDT by electrical engineer Ben Peoples, a computer on the side of the stage, synched to a music score featuring classical, tango and modern music motifs, “talks” to the light-wired costumes, sets, puppets and props so that the EL wire along with the dancers “dances” to the music score. The audience is transported into a world of wonder and surprises where humans morph into animals, flowers grow to amazing proportions and defy gravity with a humorous “Waltz of the Flowers” variation, serpents and owls disembody and reassemble or fall and recover “matrix” style in the blink of an eye. The fully animated backdrop changes regularly throughout the show as well, beginning as a tree in moonlight, populating with fruit or menacing with slithering serpents as the performance continues. Constant visual surprises and athletic virtuosic dancing delight audiences young and adult alike.
School shows titled iLumiDance Revealed
offer a behinds-the-scenes view of how dance and technology are combined to create this contemporary dance allegory. Students interact with EL wire props and costumes as they help to create their “own” iLumiDance before watching an extended excerpt from the full iLumiDance show.
Rainbow Dance Theatre’s artistic directors:
Valerie Bergman
Darryl Thomas