Award-Winning VR Experience "Le Bal de Paris de Blanca Li" Comes to Taipei, Co-produced by VIVE Arts and Surprise Lab
, National Taiwan Science Education Center
After winning Best VR Experience at the 78th Venice International Film Festival and making its mark as a highly sought-after program at the 2023 Taiwan International Arts Festival (TIFA), the immersive VR experience Le Bal de Paris by Blanca Li is set to make another grand appearance in Taipei at the end of this year. The production is co-produced by VIVE Arts and Surprise Lab, with support from the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) who aims to promote interdisciplinary collaboration between cultural, creative content, and technology.
The Taipei tour version of Le Bal de Paris de Blanca Li will unfold a new chapter at the National Taiwan Science Education Center, upon its official opening on December 9, 2023. Promising audiences a fresh and exciting experience, the Taipei production features many special highlights including a new version of the Mandarin dialogue recorded by famous Taiwanese actors Gwei Lun-Mei and Chen Bolin. Their voices lead the audience through the love story of the protagonists Adèle and Pierre, allowing visitors to embark on an extraordinary journey beyond reality.
To offer Taiwanese audiences a rich sensory experience, VIVE Arts, a global arts initiative that supports artists and cultural institutions to experiment with immersive technologies, reinterprets Le Bal de Paris de Blanca Li in collaboration with Surprise Lab, a collective well known for creating unique immersive experiences. Surprise Lab has created and designed extended experiences from VR, enriching the overall content and guiding audiences. They hope to help visitors escape everyday life through immersive theatre methods and allow them to be in their truest and most comfortable form in this Parisian party. The VR experience provides a multi-sensory experience, including auditory, visual, and olfactory elements, along with the sensory perception of a gentle breeze during a boat ride, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a romantic riverside.