The worlds of dance, technology and fashion merge in Spanish choreographer and filmmaker Blanca Li’s fantastical ball-themed extravaganza, Le Bal de Paris de Blanca Li. It will be staged in Singapore’s Infinite Studios from 2 March to 17 March 2024.
You are invited to an extraordinary ball, an incredible experience conceived by Blanca Li that you will discover through an immersive 50-minute live performance. During the show, you will spend 35 minutes in virtual reality, where you can dance with live performers or interact with other participants.
The Le Bal de Paris de Blanca Li sets the scene for Li’s tale of an unexpected encounter that turns into a whirlwind love story. Adèle’s return to Paris is celebrated with a grand party thrown by her father. The homecoming event takes a romantic turn when she meets Pierre. The pair of leads are played by two professional dancers, while each session has 10 participants.
The groundbreaking Le Bal de Paris de Blanca Li show marks many firsts. An accomplished dancer, Li lets her imagination take flight, venturing into virtual reality. Her out-of-this-world vision comes to life with the technological support of award-winning BackLight Studio, who met the challenge of creating an audacious virtual reality experience of a dance-infused festive celebration. Equipping participants with special gear comprising virtual reality headsets, computer backpacks and trackers on wrists and ankles, the Parisian production studio deftly enables interaction with the two live performers, and takes participants from the ballroom to the garden, to the maze and the river then back to Paris, seamlessly.
And of course, a ball would not be complete without the fancy gowns and suits. This is where Chanel comes in with exclusively-designed virtual costumes featuring its iconic codes and symbols including tweed and the camellia, elevating the enchanting virtual reality experience with a touch of luxury and elegance. A total of 10 outfits were created for the lead dancers, the supporting dancers as well as the participants. Thanks to BackLight Studio’s genius, Chanel’s sumptuous fabrics look and feel true to life with realistic movements.
The maison makes such a perfect partner. A patron, a muse, and costume designer for theatre and ballet, Gabrielle Chanel had close ties with the world of performance. She provided financial support to Igor Stravinsky’s musical works and Serge Diaghilev’s dance company, the renowned the Ballets Russes, even designing the costumes for his 1924 one-act ballet, Le Train Bleu. She was the creator behind the costumes of Jean Cocteau’s works namely, the Antigone opera in 1927, the Oedipe-roi play in 1937, and the Orpheus film in 1950.
A century on, the maison pays an exquisite homage to its founder’s unreserved support to the arts with the ongoing Le Bal de Paris de Blanca Li. Gabrielle Chanel’s commitment was further accentuated with artistic director Virginie Viard’s recent dance-inspired Spring/Summer 2024 haute couture collection shown in January.
Since its premiere in Paris’ Chaillot Théâtre National de la Danse in 2021, the immersive virtual reality live theatrical dance performance has picked up award after award, such as “Best VR Experience” at the 78th Venice International Film Festival in 2021, and has wowed more than 50,000 participants – and counting – across the world including Liège (Belgium), London (England), Geneva (Switzerland), Spoleto (Italy), Luxembourg, Fribourg (Switzerland), Belgrade (Serbia) and Taipei (Taiwan).
Le Bal de Paris will be in Singapore at Infinite Studios from 2 March to 17 March 2024. To find out more and to purchase tickets, head over here.
(Main Image: Le Bal de Paris)
