Fire, light and pyro animation

Walk the Plank have worked with the combination of fire and light to animate spaces and buildings for around 15 years. Our collection of available fire sculptures and lighting is now vast and varied. Depending on the needs of the event, we can work with budget upwards of £5,000 to create either a site responsive glowing garden of flame or a more punctuated and animated fiery celebration.

We have produced events and elements of this work for Brighton Festival, Visit Blackpool, Ordazzal Festival in Holland, the opening of the People’s History Museum, the opening of Manchester Metropolitan’s new arts building and in ‘LuminoCity’, a specially commissioned event for Liverpool, as well as many others.

The Fire Queen’s Court

This radiating court of flaming rhythm made its debut in Febraury 2010 and is packed with new and beautiful fiery sculptures and installations. The central element, the Fire Queen, surveys her land from above and encourages her flaming begonias to burp, instruments to screech and fire trees to blaze, creating a atmospheric and hot landscape where the queen commands all…

The Fire Queen’s Court is a slow burning evening installation that can burn for up to three hours and which is punctuated by the movement and interaction of The Queen. There are no barriers or fences and the audience are invited to get up close to and feel the heat of the sculptures, guided and controlled, by plenty of the queen’s helpers.

The Queen

Our beautiful Queen is the newest addition to the Walk the Plank portfolio. Four and a half metres tall, technically complex and internally lit, her reflective metal body glides along as she captures the audience’s imagination with her command of fire and snow. This puppet, with her own internal PA, has appeared as part of Newcastle’s Winter Carnival and Blackpool’s Heat the Streets.

Available as The Ice Queen as part of a winter celebration or Christmas Lights Switch On, or as her alter ego The Fire Queen along with her readymade fiery court or as an addition to a vibrant carnival, she has a mesmerising and magical presence.

Heavens Above: An Astronomical Mobile

Originally commissioned for both Oxford and Middlesbrough’s Winter Light Festivals, Heavens Above: An astronomical mobile is Walk the Plank’s most recent mid-scale creation. Images of the sun, moon, globe and stars combine to create an astronomical delight as they are lifted above the audience and accompanied by music and fire effects. This mobile structure is a beautiful and mesmerising display, perfect for animating City Centres by day or at night.

The scale and length of this show can be further defined by optional pyrotechnic and processional elements, please contact us to discuss your requirements.

The Emperor and the Tiger

The Emperor and the Tiger, a firework folk story created in collaboration with Kinetika, features a magnificent mechanical tiger, colourful carnival dancers, and fabulous firework effects. The greedy Emperor wants his taxes, and the people must pay. An original soundtrack with spoken narrative, and magical special effects animate the tale of the Emperor, and the Wise Man who persuades him to change his ways with a little help from the Tiger, before a firework finale lights up the skies.

Large-scale outdoor theatre designed for up to 20,000 people, the show was originally commissioned by London Borough of Tower Hamlets. A daytime processional version of the show is available, with an associated programme of carnival dance workshops to create carnival sections that support the Emperor, and the Tiger, each of which has its own battery PA. Contact Kinetika for more details of the daytime show.

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Gulliver’s Boom Box

An impressive, giant mobile Ghetto Blaster acts as a music system and performance stage for this high energy street dance show. A collaboration between Walk the Plank and Company Fierce Dance Theatre, with support from Jonzi D, the show is engaging, theatrical, and delights everyone who sees it.

The Boom Box is a time tardis which houses dancers who burst out of the speakers, or rise up on hydraulic platforms, demonstrating the highest level of choreographic artistry to illustrate the decades: from the soul filled 70’s through the 80’s era and the birth of rap music to the present day. Company Fierce can work with a group of local young people to enable them to perform within the Youth FM section of the show.

Gulliver’s Boom Box last for approximately 30 minutes and can be performed 3 times in a day. The show was originally commissioned by X.trax and the Without Walls Street Arts Consortium and has featured at many festival and events across the UK.

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Art Car Parades

In 2007 Walk the Plank created the UK’s first ever Art Car Parades, bringing an American concept to the streets of Britain and allowing British artists to re-imagine the car…with an emphasis on sustainable energy sources.

The first Art Car Parade took place in Manchester, and included a musical milk float, a pedal powered Lamborghini, a mosaic adorned Tiki Love Truck and an electric car made out of recycled furniture.

The vehicles were then transformed with light, fire & special effects as they visited Blackpool’s famous Illuminations, part of the Festival of Light, and several new commissions were unveiled including Gladys, the green goddess fire engine, Halibutmobile, and a dragon car, created by young people working with artist Shane Johnstone and the Illuminations engineers.

Art Cars have also featured in Newcastle as part of their Winter Festival celebrations and in Edinburgh, as part of their Christmas programme.

Further Art Car Parades are due to take place in 2008 and 2009. For more information visit our dedicated Art Car Parade website www.artcarparade.co.uk.

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In the Dhol Drums

A processional music show, inspired by the north Indian dhol drum, created by the Dhol Academy and Walk the Plank. A giant, mobile dhol drum (3m x 5m) is processed through the street, flanked by drummers and 2 stilted characters that interact with the audience. On arrival the drum is confronted by an assembly of motionless, silent drummers …after a call and response between drum and drummers outside, it bursts open to reveal more drummers inside. The drum becomes a three tiered stage on which the percussive finale is performed, accompanied by pyrotechnics and pre-recorded music.

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Dhol Drums in the Dark

A larger scale nightime version with a soundtrack by composer Kuljit Bhamra, featuring his bhangra version of the Bee Gees ‘Staying Alive’, is also available to create a fantastic finale for a mela or festival.

The Tower of Light & The Tower of Fire

Three Lighthouse Keepers bring the 15m tower to life, lifting buckets of fire as pyrotechnic effects erupt from every level. As they dance a hornpipe in the silver rain, a spectacular firework finale lifts off.

Designed for land or water – stadium, town square, park, dock or harbour For 5000-15,000 people, depending on the site. Duration 25 minutes. Originally commissioned by the Tate, Liverpool, the show has toured to 25 festivals including international events in Singapore, Portugal and Canada.

A new version of this show was developed in 2008, and made its debut in Blackpool at Heat the Streets, an evening of fire installations and performance as part of Showzam Festival.

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Lantern Processions

We create lantern processions as part of wider community celebrations, or as part of an event. We can facilitate workshops with school and community groups: for participants, the experience of making and carrying a lantern as part of a procession can be wonderful, and for spectators it can look magical and offer a powerful symbol of unity for the wider community.