The German-Israeli co-production, St Matthew’s Passion 2727, is a dance oratorio
choreographed by Tamir Ginz for the Kamea Dance Company. Inspired by the St.
Matthew Passion (BWV 244) by Johann Sebastian Bach and produced by Bayer Arts
and Culture. The production is a co-operation between two opera houses in
Leverkusen and Wuppertal, in Germany and Beer-Sheva Performing Arts Centre, in
Israel.
Lighting designer Yaron Abulafia was asked to add his magic and imagination to the
intense performance. He is working for the first time with Ginz, one of the most
important choreographers in Israel, who heard about Yaron’s fresh, innovative
approach to lighting which brings a unique layer of kinetic sculpting to the artform.
Abulafia, already familiar with the music – a complex and ambitious musical
construction that typically involves two choirs and at least one orchestra – listened to
the visions of Ginz and creative director Wolfgang Klasener from Wuppertal Opera
House, and decided to specify six Robe DL4S Spots as the only moving lights.
Abulafia knew that he needed to evoke a wide range of moods, and that pastel
colours, as well as stark whites, would be essential to capture the ambience of the
piece together with some much richer hues.
Having worked with Robe’s theatre-optimised DL series in the past, he thought this
would be the ideal choice, “for the quality of the optics, knowing the capabilities, the
reliability and the fact that they are extremely quiet running,’ he commented. Quiet
running was very important due to the baroque musical style played by the 30-
orchestra members and 70 singers in the chorus.
He also needed to specify lights that could be sourced in Israel for the shows
scheduled in the autumn.
Working with a raw, minimal set meticulously designed by Adam Keller, which is a
bare stage apart from a shroud, “the rest of the drama is impressively created by light
and body’ observes critic Monika Klein(1).
Yaron filled the overhead space with 20 dimmable fluorescent tubes of different
lengths suspended on catenary wires which were used extensively with the DL4Ss,
proving a great combination due to the powerful yet malleable quality of the DL4S
output.
They allowed him to produce a selection of off-beat colours – browns, pinks, salmons –
to represent physical and visceral elements like wood splinters and blood drops. He
animated some stark looks with dimmer effects so they represented scratching or
glowing which could then be softened and changed by applying frosts and diffusion.
In addition to these and the fluorescents, Abulafia used approximately 90
conventional, primarily 2K and 5K fresnels to light the piece.
1. https://www.kameadance.com/en/repertoire/st-matheus-passion-2727
