International LIGHTING seminar
3-DAY IN-PERSON LIGHTING INTENSIVE in Copenhagen
- with internationally-acclaimed Lighting Designer Jane Cox and Mark Stanley.
We’re excited to announce that this year’s Lighting Seminar will be held on June 17–19, 2025. We are beyond proud to welcome two of the most esteemed lighting designers in the performing arts: Jane Cox and Mark Stanley.
With distinguished international careers and extensive teaching experience from some of the leading universities in the United States, Jane Cox and Mark Stanley bring a wealth of knowledge to the seminar. Both are affiliated with the Studio School of Design and have worked across theatre, opera, and ballet at the highest level.
The three-day seminar will include workshops and lectures focusing on the planning, creative process, and execution of advanced lighting design. Together, we’ll dive into a meaningful dialogue about what we do, why we do it, and how — both in Denmark and on the international stage.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Day 1: Light as Storyteller
Explore why we use light in performance and how it functions as a storytelling tool. Through discussions and creative exercises, participants will experiment with cue placement, color, rhythm, and mood — asking how light supports text, movement, and music.
Day 2: Light in Space
Delve into the relationship between light and the stage environment. Topics include key and fill light, visibility and shadow, lighting for diverse casts, and how to center performers in space. We’ll also examine how light interacts with scenery and costumes to create atmosphere — from abstract worlds to realistic settings.
Day 3: Communication and Process
Focus on collaboration and the designer’s role in the production process. Learn how to effectively communicate with directors, teams, and crews, and gain practical insights into documentation and workflow.
While most of the content is targeted for lighting designers, we welcome related designers such as costume, scenic or interior interested in understanding lighting’s impact on their work.
Jane Cox is a lighting designer for theater, opera, dance, and music, as well as an educator, producer, and arts administrator. She has worked in the theater for over thirty years, and her work is driven by a deep interest in how light, shadow, and color shape emotion, reveal space, and express the inexpressible.
Jane is a Professor of the Practice and Director of the Program in Theater and Music Theater at Princeton University. Her Broadway credits include Appropriate (Tony and Drama Desk Awards, 2024), Macbeth, King Lear, Jitney, Amélie, and The Color Purple. She is known for long-term collaborations with directors such as Sam Gold, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and John Doyle, and with choreographer Monica Bill Barnes, with whom she has worked for over twenty-five years. Jane's work spans institutions such as the Apollo Theater, the Barbican, and San Francisco Opera, and she continues to explore how theater can be a space for radical welcome, imagination, and cultural conversation.
Mark Stanley is the Resident Lighting Designer for New York City Ballet, where he has created over 220 premieres, including Ocean’s Kingdom by Paul McCartney.
His designs are part of the repertoire of nearly every major ballet company in North America and Europe, and he has collaborated with choreographers such as Peter Martins, Alexei Ratmansky, Susan Stroman, Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck, William Forsythe, and Kevin O’Day. His lighting for Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and other productions has been featured on Live from Lincoln Center and Great Performances.
Stanley has also worked extensively in theater, including at the Kennedy Center, Long Wharf Theatre, and Off-Broadway, and previously served as Resident Designer for New York City Opera. He leads the Lighting Design Program at Boston University and sits on the Board of Directors of the Hemsley Lighting Programs.
The seminar is sponsored by The Lighting Designers' Copyright Management (LOF) and is held in collaboration with the The Danish National School of Performing Arts - Further Education. Learn more about LOF here.
