With the world premiere of Blue Balance on the 23rd september 2004 the German theatre and variety scene follows new artistic paths. A breathtaking show combining elements from acrobatics, clownery, dancing and music opens its doors in the TheatrO CentrO. The variety directors Karl-Heinz Helmschrot and Christian Eggert created the idea for this magical entertainment. They visited the up-and-coming festival “Cirque de demain” end of the 90´s and saw the breakthrough of the body artist Anatoliy Zalevskiy.
Blue Balance does not only persuade with the body control of the actors, but also their imaginative production will leave a lasting impression on the audience. Among others lighting designer Manfred “Ollie” Olma is responsible for the lighting design of the production. In addition to a lot of further material more than 100 moving lights are used for it, most of them by Clay Paky.
For the producers Hubert and Hubertus Grote “Blue Balance” means the realization of their dream of a genre-combining variety show. They could obligate the famous body artist Anatoliy Zalevskiy and his team Rizoma; Zalevskiy was awarded a Golden Clown at the circus festival in Monte Carlo. The whole ensemble consists of 36 people, the Potapov Galam team and its Voltige performance, the juggler Vladik, the Perezvony flying people as well as the clowns quartet Mikos.
On stage as well as behind the scenes high-carat jobs are made. “For the Blue Balance production we could use the theatre in an excellent way, as it has got a modern multifunctional stage with 8 hydraulic lifts, flying elements, pyro as well as fog technics and several other features”, Karl-Heinz Helmschrot is full of praise for the perfect local circumstances.
In Blue Balance 38 Clay Paky Stage Zoom 1200 and 46 Clay Paky Stage Color 1200 have been used. “More than 90% of the complete equipment are moving lights; using Clay Paky moving lights enables us to create the different worlds like the underwater area and the reality, as they offer unlimited possibilities for the production”, explained LD Manfred “Ollie” Olma. “They are also the combining element between the different stages and the auditorium which becomes part of the performance”. A network including 2 grandMA lighting consoles were installed in the theatre. Marcus Krömer was responsible for their programming.
The show tells the story of the clown Paganelli who discovers the Blue Balance together with his friends: an absolutely wonderful underwater world, in which a few willowy people are living in line with themselves and their element. Blue Balance means a weightless sliding, dancing, wallowing – a fantastic rapture of pictures with colours, shapes and music. It will be performed until end of april 2005 for the time being.