The Minneapolis Convention Centre has completed another phase in its continuous technology upgrade, adding Ayrton BORA-S wash luminaires to the main auditorium. ACT Lighting, Inc. is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton fixtures in North America.
“We replaced our old wash units with a greater number of BORAs and kicked up the rig a couple of notches,” said the Centre’s Technology Coordinator John Eberlein. “We’ve gained greater capabilities with BORA, which can act as a spot, gobo and shutter unit. This takes us to another level.”
Sleek and compact, the feature-packed BORA-S is particularly suitable for scenic applications requiring a great deal of light output, such as concerts and other live entertainment. It is equipped with a new LED module calibrated at 8000K delivering powerful metallic white light with a record-breaking output of 42,000 lumens.
ACT Lighting had demo’d an assortment of fixtures for John and hinted that Ayrton had something new coming soon. “We decided to wait and see Ayrton’s new light, and I’m glad we did,” he said. “We fell in love with BORA’s light output, flat field, gobos and shutter cut capabilities, which we didn’t have before. We also didn’t see the halations you find in some LEDs.”
John noted that the versatility of BORA gives him multiple options for the Minneapolis Convention Centre’s wide range of clients.
“The Beach Boys entertained at a not-for-profit corporate event here, and their lighting designer was very happy with the units,” John reported. “Our BORAs were the most moving lights they’ve had on their shows.”
The fixtures also lent themselves to the dynamic staging of a concert featuring Indian singers Sonu Nigam and Neha Kakkar, he said.
The Minneapolis Convention Centre deployed BORAs for the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ awards ceremony held during the Final Four. “They illuminated a set piece from Atomic and everyone was very pleased with BORA’s saturated blues that matched the branding colours,” John pointed out.
Area high schools that used the Minneapolis Convention Centre as the venue for their graduation ceremonies “were able to wash their choirs or orchestras then change over to light the dignitaries on stage,” he added. “The BORAs are mounted on three trusses flown over the stage; we have no conventionals hung over the stage now – we don’t need them. It’s great that we no longer have to have a ladder crew come out and physically focus the conventional units as the area that needs to be lit changes.”
According to John: “BORA has quickly become our workhorse light. BORA’s speed, effects, colour and light output are fantastic, and we can count on it to do a wide variety of things. This is the light for us!”
Gopher Stage Lighting in Minneapolis provided the Minneapolis Convention Centre with the BORA fixtures.
