Barbara, how did you finally solve this problem?<P>

Maggie and Basheva:<P>This is a dimension to you I'd never have imagined.<P>Jeff, who thinks he should have taken up hair-dragging <I>years</I> ago. . . .

I'm baaaack......<P>And here's how we solved it.<P><BR>Didn't do it. Turns out that though the visual idea of this pole hanging centerstage was a strong and important one to the choreographer...centerstage, for some reason, also seemed to be an important one for dancing (go figure). Not only the lead dancer, but also the soprano would have been smacking their heads on the darn thing until the grabbed it...so all research and testing of clips, velcro, etc. were for nothing. <P>But what we ended up with was actually pretty visually interesting. Not only was there this one floating pole, but also 17 others that are continually picked up during the piece. The choreographer wanted them standing straight up in the back of the stage. And he wanted a "bar" (his words) that they were up against so it would look like weapons leaning at the door. Well, being as we were in a theatre, they have really long "bars". So we flew in a batten and secured it so it wouldn't swing. Then to keep poles from sliding, we used pin wire sticking out so that the poles leaned against and between. The carpenter made little socks of velour for the trim chains, and because I only lit the poles, you really only saw the wood.<P>Because the one batten flew in during the intermission, I didn't have to add a flyman. Not as sexy as the floating pole, but it worked. The theatre nixed monofilament, so that would have been out anyway.<P>

Fascinating, Babs. It is a very creative process, isn't it? Too bad it didn't get used.

Too bad, especially as there were so many wonderful suggestions! Thank you, everyone!<BR>