Kinesys - Projects - Dubai Shopping Festival

Dubai-based Production Technology (Protec) has established itself as the Middle East's leading production house, supplying lighting, sound and staging from under one roof. Protec's founder and CEO Stephen Lakin's vision for the opening ceremony for the 2002 Dubai Shopping Festival resulted in one of the largest and most spectacular shows ever staged in the region, and involved 74 axes of automation - all for a single two-hour show!

The stage and surrounding infrastructure, including an 18m high, 140m wide protective wind wall, a 5m deep substage pit and 5 electricity substations, were installed over a two month period on a desert site within the grounds of Dubai's Police College. Cast and crew from all over the world came together to provide a memorable evening for an invited audience of 6000 dignitaries, including Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Makhtoum, and a satellite TV audience in 19 countries.

The show's theme of "One World, One Family, One Festival" developed around 5 giant globes, between 12 and 15m in diameter and weighing in at up to 25 tonnes. The globes were used individually to transport some of the 250 performers to the stage, and were then "swallowed" by a giant sixth globe surrounded by lighting and pyrotechnic effects as part of the impressive finale.

Each globe was driven by a pair of 7.5kW servo motors, controlled by Velocity drives with individual joystick controls. With one motor driving each front wheel an operator on each globe was able to drive accurately from a preset location up to the edge of the stage, across 15,000 square metres of tarmac laid on the desert floor. To complete the illusion each globe also rotated continuously, powered by a 0.75kW servo motor, again controlled by a Velocity drive.

The impressive 60m x 30m stage incorporated six massive hydraulic scissor lifts, each capable of lifting up to 25 tonnes with an overall travel of 7m. The scissor lifts used proportional hydraulic valves and linear position transducers to accurately position the lifts below, at or above stage level. The lifts were used not only to bring entire dance troupes, complete with musical instruments, from the 5m deep pit dug into the desert floor beneath the stage, but also to rise up above the stage to allow performers to descend from the five globes. The impressive finale saw all the hydraulic lifts rise, wedding-cake style, together with integrated pantograph staircases, towards the doorway high up in the largest of the globes.

To provide additional lighting positions and add movement at the sides of the vast stage Lakin designed two "spiders" - each having twelve 3m long hydraulically articulated legs. The legs, each supporting a moving light and a number of conventional lights, were moved by hydraulic rams controlled by proportional valves. Kinesys expertise was used to link all the hydraulics into a separately supplied control system, enabling a continuously moving display to be realised.

Dubai Shopping Festival 2002 - Opening Ceremony Credits

Date: 1 March 2002
Venue: Dubai Police College, Dubai, UAE

Set and Concept Design: Stephen Lakin
Set Construction: Production Technology, Tomcat, Emirates Building Services
Engineering Design: Andy Edwards, Richard Estridge
Hydraulics: Allan Lee
Lighting Designer: Nick Jones

Links
www.productiontec.com

All photos © Dave Hallett 2002

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