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World's Biggest Dance Event

All AV & Features / Excel, London

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Move It - 7 years and counting…

OneBigStar provided MOVE IT with production for the seventh year in succession, now firmly established at ExCel London with over 24,500 visitors each year. The three-day performance oriented event brought together dancers from across the UK for a busy programme of over 200 dance classes, workshops, celebrity appearances and more in what is now officially the world’s biggest dance event.

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Main Stage

MOVE IT’s 15m x 14m main stage features flown line array PA system and a 16:9 high resolution LED wall, accompanied by screens flown either side of the stage for IMAG camera playback with live relay from third-party roving cameras. We install more than 160 LED moving heads and LED washes to maximise energy efficiency.

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Features

The 47m Entrance Tunnel is popular with attendees, it creates an immersive environment from the minute they enter the show, enhancing its identity and creating excitement and anticipation from the outset.

The Rhythm Runway catwalk was new for 2019 and included a fashion show, along with an educational element. It was a platform for dance-wear suppliers, several of whom were show sponsors, to showcase their products and knowledge.

The Freestyle Stage included Pioneer DJ equipment and a pre-programmed lighting console controlling dynamic lighting by a combination of LED wash and moving head fixtures.

The Showcase Theatre was a black box design to assist with noise bleed. We installed rigging, staging, lighting, video and audio and graphics. As this space was utilised for theatrical performances it was very different to the show’s normal high energy environment. Our design was sympathetic to theatre, and the appropriate lighting and sound equipment was installed as such.

Further feature areas included dance studios, each with a small stage and PA with radio mic for tutors, and a VIP area with flown truss grid, lighting package and voile drapes.

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Challenges & Achievements

The most challenging aspects of delivering technical production for MOVE IT come in the form of timescales and managing sound effectively.

Scheduling for both the build and de-rig, in line with the requirements of the tenancy at ExCel, is the largest single operational challenge presented by the project. With six articulated lorries , filled to capacity, required to be loaded in and then out of the venue in a short window. Whilst the build is two days, this also includes half a day of technical rehearsals. Where it gets really tight is for the breakdown, there is just five hours to derig and reload equipment.

Sound is a key consideration, clearly a dance event has a strong focus on music. The event is made up of many elements and stakeholders who are all as equally as important and have different needs. Noise from classrooms, workshops and the Main Stage can’t encroach on each other and sound can’t bleed onto the show floor and impede the exhibitors. This is a challenge in itself, if you add to the mix Excel’s low ceiling heights which causes sound to reverberate, then selection and advanced programming of audio equipment to deliver and even dispersion of volume levels across the audience is imperative. A large event with large dance troupes also presents a challenge, we can’t mic every performer as you would on TV so we select specific boundary microphones that pick up audio e.g. Tap dancers etc.

A further challenge for 2019 included programming and crewing for the newly-introduced After Dark evening session. After Dark was headlined by the world’s biggest dance crew ‘The Royal Family,’ supported by BBC’s The Greatest Dancer Stars, they all had their own technical riders which had to be fulfilled. We split the crew shift to manage welfare and ensure optimum delivery.