NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL 2012
IS GRAHAMSTOWN AMAZING OR WHAT? – Sensory Overload has never been this Cool
The 2012 National Arts Festival (NAF) lived up to its pay-off line by once again delivering '11 days of Amazing!' The 39th annual NAF drew more participants and more visitors than 2011 by continuing to pursue its goals of stimulating debate, seeking social cohesion and championing human rights through the arts.
The NAF is much bigger and much more comprehensive in its scope. There are many facets to the festival and space is somehow found for all of them somewhere in the City of Grahamstown which swells to 4 or 5 times its size during the fiesta. [Note: if you refer to Grahamstown as a town locals will quickly remind you that it is a city, as it has a cathedral and a supreme court.]
The NAF consists of the Main Festival and the Fringe Festival. Both the Main and Fringe consists of a range of arts and cultural activities: theatre (drama, comedy and street theatre), art (paint, sculpture, performance art and installations), dance (classical, modern and physical theatre), film (conventional and experimental), as well as music (classical, contemporary and jazz).
The Main Festival features artists that have been invited by or have submitted proposals to the Festival Committee and have been deemed to meet the criteria of innovation and excellence. These artists then receive funding to produce their art and are marketed and publicized by the Festival.
Stand-out shows on the Main this year were Red, featuring Michael Richard, the ballet Giselle, and the performance art piece Cradle of Humankind featuring Steven Cohen and his 90-year-old co-performer Nomsa Dlamini.
The Fringe on the other hand is open to anyone. The only barrier to entry is the fee to book a venue. This year's Fringe had 350 productions. Even if one wanted to it is impossible to attend every show on the Fringe. At the maximum rate of 10 per day over 11 days one would only be able to attend 110 shows – not even one third on offer! Shows that caught the eye were: the King of Old Trafford, Risiko, Kaput, Tender (student production) and London Road.
Then there is the Standard Bank Jazz festival, The Think Fest, many art exhibitions and yes, even a flea market too!
For the duration of the festival the entire Grahamstown becomes involved, with locals and business taking the opportunity to benefit from the influx of tourists. Every spare bed and room is offered. Every room, hall, barn or workshop with a level surface is turned into a theatre space. Raked, scaffold-style seating is installed, flats erected, windows blacked out and AV equipment installed to artists' requirements.
Electrosonic SA proudly supported the 2012 National Arts Festival by contributing a sponsorship which included clothing, high tech lighting equipment and training for up-and-coming lighting technicians in the Entertainment Industry.
Preparations were made months before the festival was due to start on 28 June. Electrosonic SA worked closely with the National Arts Festival's technical department to train up the technicians who would be using over 1.5 million Rand's worth of Intelligent Lighting Equipment supplied by Electrosonic, for the 11 Days of the Festival. Training was provided at Electrosonic SA's head office in Johannesburg prior to the equipment being shipped to Grahamstown.
The equipment included:
- 12 x Martin Mac Aura's (10-60 Degree Zoom LED Wash Moving Heads)
- 8 x Martin Mac 101's (10 Degree Beam LED Moving Heads ALC Effect)
- 2 x Martin Mac700 Washes
- 2 x Martin Mac700 Profiles
- 2 x Martin Mac250 Entours
- 2 x ADB ALC4's (Absolutely Stunning Cyc Lights)
- 12 x High Powered RGB LED Parcans (Bright Color Changing LED Parcans)
- 1 x Martin M2GO Controller (Powerful Lighting Control)
- 1 x Martin M1 Controller
- 1 x Martin MPC Controller (Powerful Lighting Control, Electrosonic SA supplies the PC)
- 1 x ADB Mikado 24 Preset Controller (Simple Lighting Control)
- ALL DMX Cables (Supplied by Electrosonic)
Electrosonic SA's Robbi Nassi and Renier Smit spent 7 Days at the festival providing technical assistance and advice.
"It was a pleasure working with the NAF Lighting Team consisting of Nicci Spalding, Alex Farmer and Tumisang Sebogo", said Robbi. The logistical challenges were huge but not insurmountable. "We didn't get much sleep and there were many challenges to solve, but everyone pulled through and made a huge success of it," added Renier.
It was a great opportunity for the Electrosonic SA team to network with valued customers and re-establish ties with industry friends and legends such as:
- Mannie Mannim (lighting design guru and theatre legend)
- Daniel Galloway and Greg Karvellas (Fugard Theatre)
- Lerien Stoffberg and Richard Parker (Durban Playhouse)
- Patrick Curtis (Baxter Theatre)
- Gary Wilson (Free Lance Technical Extraordinaire)
- Carol Preston (Wits)
- Ronnie van Jaarsveld (Line Out, PE)
- Jaques De-Kock (Rhodes Theatre)
- Tony Lankester (CEO National Arts Festival)
- Robert Hoey (Dream Sets)
- David Opperman (Magnetic Storm, PE)
Robbi and Renier were very proud to represent Electrosonic SA amongst leading Artists, Directors, Lighting Designers, Junior Technicians, International Productions and Production Companies at the NAF. "We're looking forward to being a part of it again next year when the Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary," enthused Robbi.