La Veuve Joyeuse, une expérience en réalité virtuelle par Blanca Li

Blanca Li has always been passionate about new technologies and all the possibilities they can offer. For her new creation, she decided to mount a contemporary adaptation of the festive operetta "The Merry Widow" by F. Lehár. The entire production will be based on various party scenes in which participants will dance unremittingly.The whole experience will run for about an hour and a half, with forty minutes spent in virtual reality. This technology will allow each member of the audience to fully immerse themselves through a VR headset in an artificial, digitally created world. "The Merry Widow" will thus be an immersive experience designed to stretch the limits of both real and virtual worlds through dance and music. Immersion into the virtual environment will be carried out progressively, thanks to a real ball session to be hosted conjointly with the experience. Elements from Lehár's piece will be combined together in a festive spirit — set designs as well as ballroom dancing lessons will enable the participants to step in and out of the VR experience, allowing for a smooth transition.The audience will follow Missia and Danilo through different settings in the virtual world: an embassy, a garden, a cabaret. Participants will portray the guests in the three main ball scenes. Each and every one of them will be visible through different facial features, embodying a unique character. Guests will be guided around the space by performers so that they do not miss anything from the plot. A series of dancing scenes will get audience members to join the dancers in turns and perform a waltz, a polonaise, a polka, a mazurka, or a cancan. Everybody will be free to dance and experience the party in their own individual way, while also interacting with whomever they please in a collective experience.The Art Deco inspired set will echo the visual identity of the original piece. Decor and costume animation in VR will provide a dramatic aesthetic change towards Surrealism.