Robe enjoyed a busy year in North America at the 2023 LDI Conference and Tradeshow inside the new West Hall at Las Vegas Convention Center.
The Czech manufacturer launched three exciting and innovative products, while presenting its new live show “The Power of Imagination”. The show won the 2023 LDI Award for ‘Best Product Display’.
The Robe debuting products at LDI included the iT12 Profile, the T32 Cyc, and two new variants of the cool and successful PATT series of scenic illumination tools, the HolyPATT and the MolyPATT.
Also showing at a USA expo for the first time were several recently released products launched throughout the year. These included Robe’s new iSeries of IP-rated moving lights – the iFORTE LTX, together with iESPRITE, iPAINTE, iTetra2 and iBeam 350 luminaires.
The Robe North American team were joined by an international team from Robe lighting international including CEO Josef Valchar and International sales director Ingo Dombrowski.
Avolites – now ‘A Robe Business’ were on an adjacent stand benefiting from the proximity of being next to Robe including the high footfall.
Completing the ‘Robe collection of businesses’ was architectural LED brand Anolis, which has been exceedingly successful across this sector and the world of built environments, as well as crossover disciplines like architainment.
CEO of Robe North America, Lorienn Cochenour, commented, “We enjoyed another great show and were consistently busy seeing lots of high-quality industry professionals from multiple markets. There were many LDs, programmers, show and visual designers, and other creatives, encompassing everyone from rising stars to established, legendary professionals.”
Using around 200 Robe fixtures, the Power of Imagination 4-part show was conceived, storyboarded, designed, and produced to highlight the newest products in a real-life scenario by Robe’s in-house creative team. Nathan Wan and Andy Webb worked closely with Jordan Tinniswood, Josh Williams, Tomáš Kohout, and David Gonzalez on the staging and production, with choreographic magic by Jaye Marshall.
The performance illustrated how all of the Robe products could work together, with 14 iFORTE LTXs as core fixtures together with the other two new FORTE variants – FORTE Fresnels and FORTE PCs – mostly rigged on overhead trusses.
The truss design included some architectural curves and drop-bars to add depth. A row of iFORTE LTXs on the upstage edge of the stage blasted through, while 360-degree rotating TetraXs were prominent across the balcony of the raised upper tier of the stage.
LEDBeam 350s and PAINTES were scattered around with PAINTES on the lower sections of the stage together with the Award-winning FOOTSIE2.
T1 Profiles running on a 3-way RoboSpot remote follow system picked up and key lit the dancers, while T11 Profiles, PCs and Fresnels from Robe’s theatre range highlighted the movement and scenic elements of the design.
Six of the new MolyPATTs graced the downstage edge and on the back wall were six HolyPATTs. All lights were programmed by and run to timecode via an Avolites flagship D9 console.
“The Power of Imagination” won the LDI ‘Best Product Display’ Award for staging “a compelling theatrical experience with a show highlighting the brand’s latest offerings and incorporating traditional theatrical storytelling,” stated the organisers.
At the back of the booth were two enclosed showrooms where new products could be seen close-up by interested parties. The T32 Cyc and iT12 Profile both received a lot of interest. There was also interest in the iFORTE LTX, many also loved the FOOTSIE with its different approach to key and close-up face lighting.
The Robe team interacted with a lively international mix of visitors throughout the show. In addition to those from all over America, many entertainment professionals came from Mexico and other Latam countries while others came from as far as Asia, the Middle East, the Far East and Australasia.
Robe CEO Josef Valchar concluded, “We experienced another great LDI which is why we decided to launch important products here, and also reinforce the hard work and success of our operation in the USA, especially over the last year, as we look forward to a busy and inspiring 2024.”
