Elyjah Kleinsmith
Ely, is a Freelance Lighting Designer/ Theatre Artisan located where ever life, (and his wife), takes him! Ely received his BFA in Theatre Design and Technology from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2022, where he was the recipient of the Hope Ellen Pape President’s Club Award in the Fine Arts, for Outstanding Accomplishment in Music and Theatre Arts. Since then has had the incredible honor of designing for The Common Dance Conservatory, being the recipient of the Bates Dance Festival Technical Fellow in ‘22, where he designed for Shura Baryshnikov and Aretha Aoki. As well as had the opportunity to work with groups such as Rennie Harris Pure Movement, David Dorfman Dance, and Fist & Heel Performance Group.
Had you asked 18 year old Ely what he was going to do with his life, Never, in a million years would he have told you, Fall in love with Lights. It took a couple years of tough love and a lot of very incredibly patient professors but in the four years I spent at Illinois Wesleyan I learned how incredible life in production could be, especially through the lens of a Light.
Light Design is painting with the intangible in tangible ways. It’s guiding your eyes to look at one point whilst perhaps distracting from another. It’s perfecting a look from one angle and then realizing it looks ten times better from another. It’s the ever changing puzzle where there are an infinite amount of ways to create a look but possibly only one that can achieve a seamless transition. It’s spending time figuring out how you can Blend your colors so you can replicate a perfect sunrise but inside and with three lights. It’s the only thing that I’ve found that both allows me to master my craft yet also know that there is always more to learn every day. I can’t wait to see where my next journey will take me and I’d love for you to be a part of it.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.
(319) 259-9935