Concept of the Week: Selecting Your Color Sets

What is the Concept?

While this isn’t a concept in the same way as tutting or finger rolls, picking the colors of your lights is just as important as anything. Lights give glovers an advantage over a lot of other styles of dancing because we have the ability to portray emotion through the colors we choose. They can be completely random color sets, or they can have special meaning behind them. Whether you’re rocking programmable sets or sticking with classic bulbs, your sets are always part of you.

This article, I’m going to be covering a few different ways people choose their colors as well as some basics tips and tricks. Remember, these aren’t rules to picking sets. They are just ideas and tips for you to use and expand with. 

Make your colors match the music.

One of the greatest things about being able to pick and choose colors is the ability to create sets that display emotion or connect with the song we pick for our shows. When choosing a song with a darker feel, deep reds and deep purples give the same vibe as the song. They also make the show have that extra bit of energy and feeling to it. A great example is [UFL] Abyss’ “Custom” show.

The same can be said when throwing a show to a song with a lighter tone. Pinks, light blues, yellows and whites all have a light feel to them and give your show a hoppy vibe and extra uplift. Sets can also be made with a specific idea in mind. If your show has a theme to it, make it fit to that theme. It shows that the show is important to you and that you put a lot of thought into it. An example here would be [PM] Rhapsode’s “Stay” light show.

Make your set complement your style.

Another way that glovers will pick their colors is based on their style and how they like to glove. For example, very technical glovers tend to pick matching colors on their four fingers, so that their moves seem more intricate and more difficult to follow. This creates better illusions in the show. [SS] Cushman shows us what’s up at this BOSS show.

Glovers who use the isolation-based “morphing” style also usually pick matching colors, including thumbs. This is so that when giving a show, the glover is trying to make it hard for the viewer to know which finger did what. This adds a “wow” factor to their moves. {MiM] R-Dub is a great example. To the contrary, many liquid-based glovers will do just the opposite. They will pick lots of different modes and colors for each finger, so when they do liquid moves, there are a bunch of different trails in their shows. Trippz’s Matrix show below is all about the liquid colors.

Who Brought It To The Scene?

Unlike other concepts, there isn’t really a single glover who “brought” attention to this. Color selection has existed since gloving began, and it has been an integral part of the art ever since. A glover named Wongton, however, was one of the first to make color selection vital to a show. Wongton was the first glover to use red and blue thumbs for a show. That combination of red and blue was critical in creating the style of impacting.

Youngblood Tips

1) CONTRAST: Contrast can be huge in selecting the right colors. For motion reactive lights like Elements, having your second set drastically different from your first can give the viewer a crazy ride of a show. It allows you to hit beats even harder and adds an extra dimension to your show, particularly when the viewer has no idea when your lights may change. This can be useful in conjuring as well, switching to lights that are radically different in color. Contrast is also key for impacting, as the difference between red and blue is what gives the style some oomph. The most popular use of contrast, though, is making your thumb completely different from all other fingers, particularly if you’re a whip or flail-heavy glover. This style gives you a second trail and makes your whips look more intense.

2) SUBTLETY: On the other end of the spectrum from contrast is subtlety. Often, when choosing colors, a low tinted red or other color can add a little something extra to your set. It’s just light enough that it’s visible, but slight change makes the viewer question what they’re actually seeing. One good example is choosing colors for your fingers, before choosing that main color as a one color strobe for your thumbs. One main color but different undertones gives more vibrancy and life to your shows, while maintaining color coherence.

3) JUST DO YOU: The most important tip I can give. Create sets that you enjoy. Don’t mind what types of sets other people make. If you like the colors, then the set is perfect for you. Just enjoy.

Who To Watch

1) [PM] Rhapsode (again): A man of many styles. No matter what type of show Sode is throwing, he always has beautiful colors to compliment it. His sets always seem to have something extra to them, and I catch myself trying to recreate them all the time.

2) [LOL] Hobbes : A king of liquid, Hobbes always has absolutely gorgeous sets to match his impeccable flow. The kid always seems to make the perfect decision when making a set. I’ve never once been disappointed with his trails.

3) [HAH] VisionQuest : VisionQuest has one of the most unique styles I’ve seen. Every mode switch he makes is on beat and on point, and the colors he picks for each are perfection.

Illustration by Garvandule / deviantart.com

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