It's all down to the what playing field you are on. For example, i recently lit two very different types of contemporary dance at the Resolutions festival. Now, both these companies have links with the venue i work at as a resident, thus when they showed work here (pegasus, my venue) they asked me to light their shows for them. At this level, small scale, very few comapnies can afford the services of a freelance designer.(typically £200 - £400 for a design in a theatre up to about 300 capacity, just to give you some idea of scale) Stuart, it is likely you can give a better idea on this than me. Anyway, they asked if i could light their pieces at the festival. Only glad to really. I don't get much of a chance to play at other venues much so it was a good oppurtunity. It helped knowing the choreographers and their pieces and they were comfortable with me and my skills. Quite frankly it is kind of baffling to get the tech info back from "The Place" and not having any knowledge of lights , being confronted with symbols, numbers and having no idea what to do with them all. I am sure it is all a question of money. The dancers i know all want the best, and rightly so, but just cannot afford it. So they scrounge what they can out of the contacts they have. If they didn't they would never do the work and dance would not progress. I guess going up the ladder to mid scale you do get designers/LD's involved. Stuart, yet again, more your arena. What can i say. For a practioner that works in a small community type venue who wants to be a dance LD the oppurtunities are few and rarely paid but done out of Love for the art, darling.

Ps my spelling is particulary awful, guess my education level is probably similar to most dancers.....

Your spelling is fine...<P>The money issue is of course the biggest obstacle always, but I (and many young designers) will drop my rates for a company I feel deserves it (and really I haven't met one that didn't) or I will work on barter (this is how I get Pilates and facials). Here in SF there are companies with the money that just don't think they need to hire professionals (arrogant fools). They are the ones I focus all my hateful vibes at. And I think the audiences (and the critics to a certain degree) allow them to get away with it. We make excuses for them.<BR>So I think there are ways around the money issue, if you are willing to put in the effort.<P>Sounds like you are in that just starting out place I was at a few years ago. I got my first couple of gigs, because someone else flaked out or because someone I knew needed help. There is a lot to be said for on-the-job experience.

Absolutely, but unfortunatley i don't really qualify for a facial. Unless i can get work for a regular shave!!!!<BR>And again you are right this would be my green phase, i.e. just getting into the whole dance world as i'm discovering it is truly international. I can no longer hide behind that cute little facade that is shakespeare and the gardens of england with regard to theatre. Am very interested in the former and bored of the latter. Dance presents no boundries and can almost be limitless. New Drama appears to be lacking in verve and direction and there is only so many times you can work on classic texts. (just had enough of theatre, still doesn't pay and i feel like i can go noweher at the moment, sorry for the sob story)<BR>I want to push forward into dance lighting as for me, it is exciting. Working at the Place last week was less an excercise in lighting a piece and more about whether i could adapt to, what is to me, a completely different attitude and environment. It feels fresh and more compliant with new ideas. Am i alone here or can any one elaborate on my sensations. <BR>The piece i lit (Gelede Dance "Metamorphosis") was strong and had some attitude with it, as if the choreographer was saying "this is me, my dancers, like or lump it, we are performing". We await the critic's review, but so far, of the pieces i have knowledge of the critics have been hard but fair. Less whinging about this and that and really saying what they felt about the dance (thanks to your reviews mainly, expert stuff) I'm waffling a bit and have lost the thread, i guess i'm just an excited teenager in a new clothes shop which has shut it's doors behind me for me to buy and try everything, but i do have a limit on my card. (I'm not a teenager though and rarely have time to shop for clothes. Read 29, with large holes in my combat trousers and very worn CAT's) <P>------------------<BR>Ads<BR>

Lighting "showcases" -- even if you have to do it for cheap, or even (shudder) free -- is an excellent way to make contacts. Next week, I'll be flying halfway across the continent to light a concert for an old colleague/friend. We've done 5 or 6 shows together since we met at a showcase about 10 years ago. I'm doing this one for much less than my usual fee -- because it's a showcase, and I'll be working with choreographers from all over the country.<P>------------------<BR>Jeffrey E. Salzberg, Lighting Designer<BR>"Shang-a-lang, feel the <I>sturm und drang</I> in the air!"<BR>Online portfolio: <A HREF="http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg" TARGET=_blank>http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg</A> <P><BR>

Adam:<P>You <I>are</I> keeping records -- photographs, light plots, whatever -- of the pieces you're lighting, aren't you?

Very Important! I'm terrible about it.

I'm very lucky in that both these last pieces and pretty much anything I have done at Pegasus has been Videoed (If thats a word)<BR>Other wise, all the paperwork, i.e rig plans, plots, focus notes are all there but in my usual arabic non sensical writing that only I can read, sometimes. I'm fairly certain that any company I've lit would be prepared to give a reference so hopefully I should have covered everything. Do you think it would be wise to lift some still images from the video work I have done? To be honest I hadn't really thought of a visual record, I suppose it is crucial. I suprise myself at my own ignorance sometimes!

Adam, none of us was born knowing all this stuff, so don't apologise for not knowing something.<P>Yes, it would be a good idea to lift some still images off the video. It would also be a good idea to take sill photos, with a tungsten-based film, of your future work.