Night Fall, created by virtual reality company &samhoud Media – in collaboration with Dutch National Ballet and Samsung – is a very different ballet that intends to immerse audiences in a dance story via virtual reality. As ballet is ultimately theatrical, it seems a perfect fit in guiding audiences through movement virtually.
The ballet was choreographed by Peter Leung, a former dancer with Dutch National Ballet and the music was composed by Robin Rimbaud. It will be the first virtual reality ballet, and will premiere at The VR Cinema in Amsterdam. In terms of virtual reality content creation, creating a ballet or dance work for this is a huge step; it will be interesting to see if and how others in the industry may follow this.
Night Fall is the first virtual reality ballet, having never been created before. During its creation, the team were aware of limitations such as not being able to see how a take had gone, as they were not able to be in the camera’s sightline at all. The limitations for the technology account for many challenges, especially when attempting to capture something such as dance, which is so fleeting. The separate elements were challenging to coordinate as part of 360° content, and furthermore judge if it had been successful, however it seems the creation is a huge coup.
The piece tells the story of a living creature – represented by fog, travelling around the stage speckled with dancers – which weaves itself in and out of the scene, bringing dancers to the forefront and taking them away again. The main musician, a violinist dressed in black, interacts and engages with the dancers, luring them into the music he creates. The wispy lighting and lack of scenic design adds to the mystery to immerse the audience in the action, rather than behind a fourth wall in a proscenium arch theatre.