Taping the stage for dance

[emmyfaye1]

Hi there!  Getting ready to sm for a dance concert and it has been quiiiite a while since i've done dance.  Can anyone remind me what I need to tape on the stage for dancers?  I believe it's marks for DC, CC, UC, DL, CL, UL, DR, CR, UR.......but I keep thinking about quarter marks??   help!

[ScooterSM]

I usually tape center, quarters, and outstage marks at downstage (edge of Marley, not edge of stage), centerstage with CC mark larger than others, and US.  Occasionally I will mark eighths, but it depends on the choreographer.  Please let me know if this doesn't make sense!

SSM

[BalletPSM]

Yeah, I always tape a full center line and full 1/4 lines, and if it is a kids show on a large stage I will do full 1/8 lines (like for Nutcracker) but usuallly i just do a small mark at the downstage and upstage edges for 1/8s.

Then at c/c I tape a large bright colored X (usually pink or yello).  I do the "white line of death" at the edge of the marley, and also white tape around any booms or offstage obstacles that dancers might run into as they're running offstage looking into bright sidelight (like FX machines or scenery that has to store in the wings).

The final marks I do are Xs or dashes on and around any "stage hazards."  We played on one stage that has a trap that is warped out of the rest of the stage, so there was this raised lip -- I put marks around something like that, or a white X over any divets that are in the stage so a dancer knows not to plant their pirouette right there.

And of course, spikes for any scenery or props or furniture, or any specials that the dancers might need to be in.

[emmyfaye1]

thanks!  I appreciate it!

[ljh007]

Occasionally - more with musicals or operas that include a ballet - I've been asked by the choreographer to include marks along the DS edge of the stage for every 2-foot increments off center. Of course we always do this in the rehearsal hall, but every now and then I'm asked to include it on the stage too.

[loebtmc]

There is a theater in Irvine, CA that has built a better mousetrap (and I wish they would market it), but in the meantime here it is for all to create for their own selves.

Designed for dancers - they do a lot of ballet and musical theater in the space - it is a regular white light string that unrolls all the way DS just at the lip of stage edge. There is a single red light at center, and going out in both directions a (can't recall the color) light at quarter stage and half stage with the option of  a blue light every two feet (for musicals), and a green light ever four feet. You never have to tape (or peel off) the stage once you have found center - you just unroll it and leave it be until you're done, then roll it back up.

Seems to me a handy device, and one that would make some clever person a ton o'dough in theater sales. Think of the savings in both tape and time for setting and striking stage marks. Saves glowtape too - and keeps the performers from walking off the edge or getting too close to the edge, since it's a clear demarcation of stage edge that can be seen by all the performers - but not by the house (amazingly) - it is a great tool.

[emmyfaye1]

that's sort of brilliant....I'm keeping that one!

[ptthms]

Sorry, but Irvine didn't invent the ropelight.  I've seen it and used it for about 10 years now.  It used to be really hard to do/find, but just trot on down to your Home Depot and you can get it in a bunch of different colors.  The hardest part is gaff taping the downstage side so the audience doesn't see it.  It's a great thing to have and nowadays pretty cheap.

[stagebear]

i like to use stage LED markers. i even use them in straight shows.

[loebtmc]

Cool! Glad to see they are accessible and/or easily build-able now. I hadn't seen a rope light used that way before (mind you, this was abt 15-20 years ago) - and whether they invented it or just adapted it cleverly to their space, perhaps (since they didn't take the initiative) someone else figured out an easy way to create it and passed it along - it seems very cool and convenient, and if I go back to doing a lot of dance, I may invest and build one!

[avkid]

Rope light is so last week.
This is the future:
http://electroluminescence-inc.com/ELtape.htm