zactrack SMART in The Valkyrie at National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing
- Werner Petricek
- Jun 24
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 1
Lighting Designer Gaetano La Mela chooses zactrack SMART for his new production of Wagner’s The Valkyrie at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), marking the first case study of light tracking implementation in mainland China.
The Wagner opera Die Walküre, produced by the National Centre for the Performing Arts, was staged as part of the NCPA Opera Festival 2025, with performances held on April 29, May 1, and May 3 in Beijing. To meet the challenges of dynamic spotlighting within a highly complex stage environment, Lighting Designer Gaetano La Mela and his assistant, Sun Napu, implemented the zactrack SMART system.
In the early stages of production planning, the creative team identified several key challenges — particularly the need to coordinate lighting with the evolving stage design throughout the five-hour-long opera (including the two intermissions). A central focus was achieving precise, dynamic spotlighting on the lead performer across a highly complex and visually dense stage.
The set featured large LED walls, ice screens, and intricate scenic elements, all demanding a more three-dimensional lighting approach than traditional follow-spot techniques could offer. “We had very little time to complete the lighting design for the show. Every rehearsal brought new changes to the lighting plan. Despite installing over 430 lighting fixtures, the goal was always to keep the stage as dark as possible—while still precisely illuminating the actors and set elements”, explains La Mela.
The production’s heavy use of video projections introduced additional challenges. The LED and ice screens exhibited a wide dynamic brightness range, and the visual content varied significantly in tone and contrast. This demanded constant, precise adjustment of light levels to achieve visual harmony between projections and stage lighting.
For this production the stage was densely layered with two LED walls, ice screens, and expansive scenic elements such as mountains and trees. Traditional lighting methods that rely on broad lighting zones tend to flatten the depth of field between scenes, diminishing the intended realism and spatial separation.
To address this, La Mela, together with the zactrack SMART system, minimized the size of the light beams to reduce their visibility on the stage floor. This approach ensured that the actors remained clearly visible to the audience without compromising the integrity of the visual composition. This represented the shift from the standard goal of "seeing the light but not the fixtures" to a more refined level: "seeing the light but not the spot."
Director David Livermore emphasized that all technical elements — lighting included — must serve the narrative rather than exist for the effect alone. Fire, lightning, and divine light were not just visually striking, but aligned with the dramatic tension and philosophical themes of Wagner’s original composition. Thus, La Mela not only aimed to create the right lighting atmosphere in each scene, but also to strengthen the emotional expression of the plot and the magical realism style of the stage.
State-of-the-Art technology in classical theatre
Anchors were installed on the lighting bridge, with a total of 11 anchors used to provide full coverage of the performance area. Each anchor offered spherical signal coverage with a radius of approximately 15 meters. For accurate tracking, each tracker had to remain within the scanning range of at least four anchors simultaneously.
The system continuously monitored and displayed the signal strength from each anchor point, ensuring reliable coverage and performance. For redundancy and uninterrupted tracking, each of the six performers was equipped with two trackers. Due to costume changes, two additional trackers were placed in each of Sieglinde’s costumes.
Sukesh from zactrack provided suggestions for the early anchor planning layout and online answers. The zactrack team (Li Chenyang, Li Yiran, Wang Xi) of ACE International Co., Ltd. provided technical support and guarantees during the stage installation, rehearsal, and performance.
To be continued…
This production marks the NCPA’s second installment in Wagner’s Ring cycle, following Das Rheingold in 2024. The remaining two operas in the series are set to be staged over the next two years, offering audiences a complete journey through Wagner’s monumental masterpiece.
“I am very happy with the results (of this production) and would very much like to continue using zactrack in future projects. It has become an indispensable tool, especially when setup time is limited,” concludes La Mela.
