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Header image courtesy of Airside
Calling all parents, ballet dancers, and tech enthusiasts! This summer, Hong Kong Ballet has collaborated with Airside to create a reimagining of the magical world of The Wizard of Oz, allowing visitors to embark on a 30-minute free journey to the land of Oz.
Inspired by Hong Kong Ballet artistic director Septime Webre, Eddy Wong—the winner of the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards—has designed an immersive arts tech ballet experience that blends technology and art. Using virtual reality (VR), players can fully engross themselves in Dorothy’s adventure, while the mixed reality (MR) allows for more tangible interactions with the virtual characters.
The immersive experiences incorporate the art of ballet as kids and adults alike have to imitate ballet poses to finish tasks in VR, and allows a close-up look at the Hong Kong Ballet dancers performing scenes of The Wizard of Oz. Using MR, players have to fight the virtual Wicked Witch with virtual apples taken from a neon apple tree crafted by local neon-light artist Jive Lau. Aside from ballet, the experience also includes an installation of Hong Kong’s emblematic neon lights.
This celebration of both technology and art is a promotion for Hong Kong Ballet’s forty-fifth anniversary celebration. For the occasion, the troupe will perform The Wizard of Oz ballet on stage from 30 August to 1 September at Hong Kong Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre. The “HK Ballet Oz Life Journey at Airside” experience is free but you have to register online here. Tickets to the ballet performance are also on sale—get yours here.
Punita is currently an English major at Durham University. As a longtime bookworm, she is passionate about all forms of storytelling. When she’s not stuck in a bookstore or cheering for a celebrity, you can always find her wandering the streets of Hong Kong on the lookout for stray cats.
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