White Light hits every beat at The O2 with The Manor LDN

White Light (WL) was proud to support lighting designer Matt Ladkin on Dance//Offline, The Manor LDN’s dynamic dance festival held at Indigo at The O2.

As one of London’s leading dance studios, The Manor LDN has built a reputation for elevating training and performance opportunities for dancers of all levels. Their commitment to championing creativity and community has positioned them as a driving force in the capital’s dance culture, and this festival marks an ambitious extension of that mission.

Based in Finsbury Park, The Manor LDN offers a broad programme of classes led by industry‑leading choreographers and performers. Following the success of their first external event in September 2025, the team returned to Indigo at the O2 last week, coinciding with MOVE IT Dance, one of the world’s biggest dance festivals at ExCeL London.

The performance featured sixteen original works from choreographers connected to The Manor LDN, along with international guests. The festival provided dancers with the opportunity to perform on a large scale professional stage supported by full production values.

To shape the overall look and feel of the event, The Manor LDN turned to lighting designer and technical director Matt Ladkin. Having spent nearly twenty years working with Indigo at The O2 as a freelance engineer, Matt has a long‑established relationship with the venue and was recommended to The Manor LDN team as the ideal creative and technical lead. He approached WL to supply the lighting package, drawing on a working relationship that spans almost two decades.

Matt explains: “The reason I chose WL for this project is because they have great quality equipment, ideally suited to the project, at the right price point, and most importantly, WL is local to the venue. If we needed technical support, they were just down the road.”

While Indigo at The O2 houses an extensive lighting rig, the venue is primarily designed for live music rather than dance. To build the show The Manor LDN envisioned, Matt created a dedicated dance‑focused package that introduced key elements including side‑light towers with ETC Lustr2’s and Elation KL6-FC Fresnel fixtures, a cyclorama package and ground row package of Chroma-Q Color Force II battens, and a complementary floor package featuring Ayrton Rivale and GLP FR10 battens.

Matt built his design in Vectorworks before recreating the full system in Capture, using it to collaborate directly with The Manor LDN at their studios and each choreographer, many of whom were engaging in a creative lighting process for the first time. Real‑time visualisation allowed them to shape mood and tone with confidence. WL provided a full control and pre-vis package to support the week long consultations at the Manor LDN studios.

“Having everything in pre‑vis meant the choreographers could actually see what the piece would look like on a virtual stage. We could turn fixtures on, adjust colour and intensity, and build the dance pieces together. A lot of the choreographers had never been involved in this kind of process, so being able to guide them creatively was really valuable.”

Matt approached each piece by analysing and breaking down the music in CuePoints to identify rhythm, accents, and emotional shifts, ensuring the lighting supported rather than overshadowed the choreography. He ensured each work had its own visual identity while maintaining a cohesive festival aesthetic across the show.

The project operated within extremely tight timeframes, with the full installation, technical rehearsal, performance, and de‑rig completed within a single 12 hour day. Thanks to WL’s prep space in Wimbledon and the efficiency of the shows production electricians, the load‑in and focus were completed in just over an hour, with a full load‑out achieved in just over forty‑five minutes. Having fully built the show in Capture, updates were minimal and enabled the rehearsals to run smoothly and without delays.

Feedback from The Manor LDN, choreographers and audiences was overwhelmingly positive. Many choreographers emphasised how significant the collaborative lighting process felt, particularly given that most festival‑style events afford minimal technical time. The opportunity to craft bespoke lighting looks contributed to a professional experience that felt both elevated and empowering.

“The choreographers were incredibly happy,” Matt says. “For many, it was their first chance to work with lighting at this level, and they really felt the value of having such high production standards.”

With two successful editions delivered within six months, The Manor LDN hopes to continue developing Dance//Offline into a recurring fixture in London’s dance calendar. Matt closed by reflecting on the collaborative spirit that defined the project. “The Manor LDN is investing in a creative process that gives dancers and choreographers so much more than they usually get. Working with WL and the whole team to bring this to life has been fantastic. We have created something that feels ambitious, uplifting and genuinely community‑focused.”

WL’s Head of Lighting, Dom Yates, adds: “We are proud to have supported Dance Offline with both technical excellence and creative partnership, helping The Manor LDN deliver a dance show that celebrates the energy of London’s dance community.”

Lighting team credits:
Lighting Designer: Matt Ladkin.
September 2025: Production LX – Liam Cleary & Al Kiernan.
March 2026: Production LX – Jamie Chaloner & Kyle O’Hara.

Photo courtesy of Manor LDN Media Team.