Macau City’s Dazzling ‘House of Dancing Water’

Designed by Pei Partnership Architects, the state-of-the-art Dancing Water Theatre created for The House of Dancing Water includes a stage pool that holds a record-breaking 3.7 million gallons of water, equivalent to five Olympic-sized swimming pools. The arena also boasts a 40-meter-high steel-trussed space that provides the generous heights required for the show’s diving and acrobatics elements. The show itself centers on an epic love story and spectacular journey through time, showcasing dazzling costumes and special effects.

“A show as complex as The House of Dancing Water would simply not be possible without reliable, stable, and flexible communications between and among our cast and crew members,” said Nicolas Hammond, Head of Sound, Dragone Macau Limited. “We’re already sold on the quality and flexibility of Riedel’s Artist, so it was only natural to choose Bolero for our upgrade to wireless comms.”

The Riedel-based communications infrastructure is the result of a collaborative effort between Hammond and Assistant Head of Sound David Sharrock, with the support of The House of Dancing Water sound team. Going live in June, the new Bolero system extends the existing Riedel infrastucture, including two Artist 64 frames and two Artist 32 frames, to enable clear and reliable communications for all cast members and crew throughout the Dancing Water Theatre. Motocross stunt riders and acrobatic performers, coupled with the technical teams, will use the intercom system for continual communication during the show, which features visuals, water, and atmospheric effects. Even in the aquatics area, the Bolero/Artist combination will support communications with performers and underwater performer handlers in the pool via underwater speakers, in-mask communications systems, and buddy phones.

Programming flexibility is another extremely important requirement for the production, and Bolero will enable the team to customize the system to meet the needs of individuals and departments. Riedel’s Director software enables intuitive management and configuration of the system while also facilitating real-time system monitoring by the sound department.

“Remote monitoring and fewer moving parts means we can operate and maintain the system much more efficiently, giving us more time to work actively on solutions for users. And the outstanding build quality of the Bolero belt packs means our consumables and service/repair costs will go down dramatically,” Hammond added. “Also, we can’t speak highly enough about the fantastic service we’ve received from Riedel. The personal connections we’ve built with the Riedel team and their outgoing and professional manner have made working with Riedel a pleasure, and we know that support is always just a message away.”  

About Riedel Communications

Riedel Communications designs, manufactures, and distributes pioneering real-time video, audio, data, and communications networks for broadcast, pro audio, event, sports, theater, and security applications. The company also provides rental services for radio and intercom systems, event IT solutions, fiber backbones, and wireless signal transmission systems that scale easily for events of any size, anywhere in the world. Riedel is headquartered in Wuppertal, Germany, and employs over 500 people in 19 locations throughout Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Americas.