Lift-Turn-Move present seminar at National Student Drama Festival
2007-07-07
LTM's Dave Ward presented a short practical seminar on "Lodestar Use and Abuse" at the 2007 National Student Drama Festival in Scarborough, UK.
The NSDF is a week long celebration of theatre, live performance, discussion and special events covering all aspects of theatrical performance including technical, and this is where LTM became involved.
Stage Electrics - a regular LTM customer - initiated LTM's invitation to participate as experts in the genre of lifting, turning moving and flying!
The seminar was attended by technical theatre students and some who had recently left college and are now working in theatre after completing a variety of different courses, many of them geared towards sound and lighting.
Flying is one of the universal skills needed across most theatrical departments, but the real technical aspects of it are often overlooked on mainstream courses, so there was keen interest in LTM presentation. This was essentially a streamlined 3 hour version of their famous CM Lodestar Motor School.
It included some demos, during which Ward rigged up a Lodestar and removed the covers allowing people to look inside and get familiar - which proved "quite an eye opener".
Many people were interested in what types of hoists to use for which applications, so Ward highlighted the key safety features of the CM Lodestar - an industry standard hoist with a great reputation of reliability and robustness.
This includes limiters preventing the chain running through the motor, and the double-braked BGV C1 standard CM hoists, considered to be among the safest in the business.
The hands-on element of the seminar was followed by a lively Q&A session in which the attendees were "Really asking well thought out and relevant questions indicating a keen interest in rigging and flying" reports Ward.
LTM has seen its business in the theatre sector rapidly expand over the last few years, needing specific requirements like quieter hoists and BS standard compliance, and this is also reflected in the fact LTM launched two new products at the 2007 ABTT show.
NSDF technical director Anna Cole comments, "This year the technical workshop programme was the strongest yet. It was really fantastic for LTM to come to the festival, and feedback indicates that the workshop was interesting, and that it was encouraging to talk to those working within the industry".