📚 A Linha Curva — 6b.7
Lighting
Designed by Itzik Galili · 49 lights · 7×7 grid · Pre-programmed
📚 On this page
- Explore the 7×7 lighting grid interactively — see each section's state
- Describe the key lighting states accurately with correct vocabulary
- Practise a full DLIE appreciation answer
- Form your own interpretation of specific lighting moments
6b.7.1 Description
Designer
Itzik Galili — also choreographer & costume designer
Structure
49 overhead lanterns in a 7×7 chequerboard grid
Control
Pre-programmed — runs automatically
Key link
Black mesh costume + blackouts = dancers vanish & reappear
💡 Lighting State Explorer — tap a section to see its lighting
Tap a section below
Choose a section to see its lighting state on the grid.
🔗 Match each section to its lighting
Select the correct lighting description from the dropdown for each section. Use the explorer above to help.
Adage Septet
Showing Off
Battle
Ensemble sections
Guess the Section
Look at the lighting state — which section of A Linha Curva uses this? 5 rounds.
0 / 5
Which section uses this lighting?
Examiner's Eye — always link lighting and costume together
The blackout effect only works because Galili designed both the lighting and the costume. Black mesh vest + programmed blackout = complete disappearance. In the exam, whenever you mention the blackouts, mention the costume in the same sentence. Neither works without the other.
6b.7.2 Appreciation DLIE Panel
Sample answer — Lighting in A Linha Curva
D
Describe
Designed by Itzik Galili, the lighting uses 49 overhead lanterns in a 7×7 chequerboard grid, pre-programmed to change state throughout. Ensemble sections use the full grid with blackouts built in. The Adage Septet uses 7 yellow squares only, with the rest in darkness. The Showing Off section uses two white wash lights from upstage left with the grid off. The Battle section uses warm orange sidelighting.
L
Link
The chequerboard grid links to the carnival stimulus — the stage becomes a grid of individual spaces, like a parade in formation. The pre-programming links to the precisely choreographed structure. The 7 yellow squares in the Adage Septet mirror the isolation of the 7 female dancers from the rest of the company. The warm orange sidelighting in the Battle links to competitive heat and the capoeira-influenced movement. The blackouts are only possible because the black mesh costume was designed to work with them — an integrated design.
I
Interpret
The grid of squares could symbolise both freedom and invisible constraint — every dancer celebrates within their own defined space. The 7 yellow squares could suggest individual spotlights of recognition, holding the women within the collective. The cold white wash in Showing Off could represent the hard light of judgement — the men exposed and evaluated, stripped of the warmth of the carnival colours.
E
Evaluate
This is effective because the constantly shifting pre-programmed grid keeps the audience visually engaged — they never know where to look next. The blackout moments create genuine surprise as dancers vanish and reappear. The shift from warm carnival grid to cold white wash in Showing Off creates an immediate mood change the audience feels without being told — moving from celebration to something more uncomfortable.
6b.7.3 💜 How Does the Lighting Affect Your Emotional Response?
Your Emotional Response
These prompts ask for your genuine reaction. Anchor every response to a specific lighting state you can describe. Tap to see model responses, then write your own.
1
🔲 The Full Grid — Blackouts and Reappearances
Throughout the ensemble sections, the full 7×7 grid shifts state constantly. Blackouts plunge the stage into darkness mid-movement — then selected squares relight with dancers already in new positions. They appear to teleport. This happens multiple times.
How do the blackouts make you feel as an audience member — exhilarated, unsettled, delighted? Does the constantly shifting grid pull you into the celebration or keep you at a distance?
👁 Tap to see model responses
In my opinion…
In my opinion, the blackout moments are the most exciting in the work. The sudden darkness creates a held breath — and the return of colour with dancers in new positions is genuinely surprising every time. This mirrors the stimulus: a carnival is exactly this kind of unpredictable, overwhelming joy. The grid forces the audience to be present, engaged, never settled. It's the lighting equivalent of the live percussion — something you can't look away from.
This could suggest…
The precise chequerboard grid is beautiful — but it's also controlled and organised. Unlike immersive, all-over stage lighting, the grid creates defined spaces that feel like a display being put on for you, rather than something you're inside. This could suggest the work is conscious of the distance between the celebration on stage and the audience watching it. The blackouts heighten this — the dancers can vanish; you cannot join them.
✍️ Your response:
💡 Copy into your ePortfolio — not saved automatically.
2
🟡 The 7 Yellow Squares — Adage Septet
When the Adage Septet begins, the full grid goes off. Just 7 yellow squares remain lit — one per female dancer. The rest of the stage is in complete darkness. The male dancers on skateboards are there but invisible.
After the full carnival grid, how does the shift to just 7 warm yellow pools affect you emotionally? Does it feel intimate? Lonely? Calm? Something else?
👁 Tap to see model responses
In my opinion…
In my opinion, the shift to 7 yellow squares is the most emotionally powerful lighting moment in the work. The reduction from 49 lit squares to 7, from 28 dancers to 7 women, creates an extraordinary stillness. The warm yellow is intimate — almost like candlelight compared to the full carnival grid. After the noise and movement of the ensemble sections, this feels like the work finding its breath. A moment of something careful and precious inside all that energy.
This could suggest…
Although the yellow glow is warm, each dancer is alone in her own pool of light — separated from the others by darkness. The men are present in that darkness, invisible. This could suggest that even within a shared celebration, individuals can be profoundly alone. Each woman is held in beautiful golden light, but each one is held separately. There's something bittersweet about that — the lighting makes intimacy and isolation feel like the same thing.
✍️ Your response:
💡 Copy into your ePortfolio — not saved automatically.6b.7.4 💜 Does the Lighting Shift Your Interpretation at Any Point?
Moments That Shift Your Reading
At specific points, the lighting changes what the work feels like it's about. These prompts ask whether any lighting state shifts your interpretation — not just your mood.
1
⬜ White Wash in Showing Off — Scrutiny or Just a Change?
When Showing Off begins, the warm carnival grid turns off. Two large white wash lights from upstage left take over — colder, harder, more directional. The 5 men perform their competitive display. The female dancer performs her solo in the same light — unnoticed.
Does the shift to cold white light change what you think this section is about? Does the absence of the warm carnival colours say something?
💬 Tap to see model responses
In my opinion…
In my opinion, the removal of the warm carnival grid changes everything. The cold white wash strips away the party colours and what remains feels like a spotlight of evaluation. The men perform their display under this harder light and it makes them feel exposed rather than celebratory. This shifts my interpretation of the section: it is not just showing off, it is performing under scrutiny. The lighting makes the vulnerability visible that the movement alone might not.
This could suggest…
It's also possible to read the white wash as simply a different register of the same work — lighter, cooler, creating contrast with the warmth of the grid. The chequerboard is Galili's dominant visual concept, and a departure from it marks a change of section rather than necessarily a change of meaning. In this reading, the white wash is effective because it gives the eyes a rest from the grid before the carnival energy returns.
✍️ Does the white wash shift your interpretation?
💡 Copy into your ePortfolio — not saved automatically.
2
🟠 Orange in Battle — Heat or Danger?
The Battle section uses warm orange sidelighting — from the sides rather than overhead. The orange replaces the grid for this section. Sidelighting emphasises the contours and muscles of the body from the side, catching every movement differently from overhead lighting.
Does the orange shift the section from carnival celebration to something more dangerous? Or does it feel like an intensification of the same heat?
💬 Tap to see model responses
In my opinion…
In my opinion, the warm orange sidelighting is the moment the work feels most primal. The carnival grid is organised and contained; the orange sidelighting is rawer, hotter, and more urgent. The capoeira-influenced movement is already physically intense; the orange makes it feel like the stakes have been raised. This shifts my reading from celebration to something closer to genuine conflict — the orange is not party warmth, it's fire.
This could suggest…
Brazilian carnival is already full of warmth, colour and physical intensity. The orange sidelighting could read not as a departure from the carnival but as its most intense expression — the heat of a street celebration at night, fire torches, warm skin. The Battle section's energy was always part of the celebration; the orange doesn't signal danger so much as temperature. In this reading, the lighting deepens the carnival rather than contradicting it.
✍️ Does the orange shift your interpretation?
💡 Copy into your ePortfolio — not saved automatically.
3
⬛ The Blackouts — Clever Trick or Something More?
The pre-programmed sequence builds in complete blackouts during ensemble sections. Dancers vanish (black mesh + darkness). When the lights return, they're in new positions. They seem to teleport. This happens multiple times throughout the work.
Are the blackouts purely theatrical magic — a clever trick that delights the audience? Or does the idea of disappearing and reappearing say something deeper about the work?
💬 Tap to see model responses
This could suggest…
The blackouts could connect to the work's wider theme of visibility and invisibility — particularly the female solo in Showing Off, the woman present but unseen. The blackouts make disappearance literal: within the collective celebration, any individual can vanish and reappear elsewhere with nobody marking the transition. The work is about living in the moment; the blackouts are the moment when even that living disappears, briefly, before starting again somewhere new.
In my opinion…
In my opinion, the most honest response to the blackouts is the immediate one: they are delightful. Galili's intent is to celebrate and have fun. The blackouts serve this directly — they create joy, surprise, and genuine delight every time. When the lights return and the dancers are somewhere different, the audience gasps. That gasp is the whole point. Reaching for deeper symbolic meaning risks overloading a moment that is doing something simpler and more powerful: making the audience feel alive.
✍️ Do the blackouts shift your interpretation?
💡 Copy into your ePortfolio — not saved automatically.📌 Key Points
DesignerItzik Galili — also choreography & costume. One integrated system.
The grid49 lanterns, 7×7 chequerboard. Pre-programmed.
Adage Septet7 yellow squares only. Rest of stage dark.
Showing OffTwo white wash lights from USL. Grid off.
BattleWarm orange sidelighting.
BlackoutsBuilt into the pre-programme. Dancers vanish + reappear in new squares.
6b.7.5 Revision Check
✍️ Revision Check
10 questions — all DLIE layers. Answer all then submit.
1. Who designed the lighting for A Linha Curva?
2. How many lanterns are in the lighting grid, and how are they arranged?
3. Describe the lighting used in the Adage Septet.
4. What lighting is used in the Showing Off section?
5. What does "pre-programmed" mean in this context?
6. What lighting is used in the Battle section?
7. How does the chequerboard grid link to the carnival stimulus?
8. What could the 7 yellow squares in the Adage Septet symbolise?
9. Why is it important that Galili designed both lighting AND costume?
10. How does the shift from warm carnival grid to cold white wash affect the audience in the Showing Off section?
📸
Screenshot your score and paste it into your ePortfolio.