No reality now

2023

What if there were other realities to which we had no access? Other lives, other worlds, other deaths, as close as they are imperceptible.

No reality now is an experiment combining dance on stage and virtual reality. It invites us into a beyond - inaccessible, unfathomable, unintelligible, like the death that it ventures to stage.

On stage, a storm interrupts a funeral wake. The rain begins to pour down, and the light trembles. Then suddenly, the image appears. You are not dreaming: your VR headset has just taken control, plunging you into a parallel world.

As you visualize yourself sitting in the very same place, the virtual copy of the stage distorts and takes liberties, proposing a double interpretation of the piece. A dialogue between these two visions then begins, like a diptych or a confrontation, expanding their own fields of resonance.
Teaming with immersive experience designer Charles Ayats, choreographer Vincent Dupont here revives one of his previous works, Souffles. Wagering that virtual reality and live performance are complementary, the two artists do not simply “augment” this 2010 piece; they propose two simultaneous versions of it, the audience beeing able to move freely between each.

"Two stagings will pursue one another, from the minimalist physical stage to the virtually illustrated reflective world, linked by the dancers' performance. A diptych to be apprehended in a new way thanks to the VR goggles. We've opted for a handle attached to these "modern theatrical binoculars" to give each spectator the choice of looking at this shared collective hallucination whenever they want to."

No reality now uses augmented reality technology to recreate the theatre venue, with the performers (actors/dancers) represented as avatars on a virtual stage. Pre-recorded using motion capture sensors and a real-time 3D engine, the performers’ movements and actions on stage are then reproduced an immersive virtual environment live during the performance.

"This set-up seems to us the ideal tool; not to augment bodies and movements, but rather to alter our perceptions, to play with the substraction, repetition, variation, or subjugation it provokes."

No reality now was created on September 19th 2023 at the Biennale de la danse de Lyon in collaboration with the Théâtre nouvelle génération, CDN de Lyon.

Conception

Charles Ayats & Vincent Dupont

Distribution

CASTING LIVE PERFORMANCE
Choreography and scenography: Vincent Dupont
Dance: Elsa Dumontel, Lazare Huet, Mey Provost
Light: Yves Godin
Sound: Vanessa Court, Raphaëlle Latini
Voices: Valérie Joly
Costumes design: Éric Martin
Costumes production: Hélène Martin Longstaff, Didier Despin
Artistic collaboration: Myriam Lebreton
Set design: Sylvain Giraudeau
Technical direction: Sylvain Giraudeau or Anne Wagner Dit Reinhardt
Sound booth: Brice Kartmann
Light booth: Iannis Japiot or Nathalie De Rosa
Network and general booth: Thibaut Le Garrec
XR technician : Anastasiia Ternova

DIGITAL EXPERIENCE REALISATION
Design of augmented stage device: Small Creative
Creative technologist: Jean Dellac
VR artistic direction: Florian Salabert
Tech artist: Pierre Didier
Developers :Sofiane Tihdaini, Pierre Roquin
Design VR accessories: YouFactory

Production

J’y pense souvent (…) : Marion Gauvent, Alexandra Servigne
Dark Euphoria : Mathieu Rozières, Marie Point, Raphaël Chênais
Coproducers: Lieu Unique scène nationale, Nantes – Théâtre Nouvelle Génération CDN, Lyon – CN D Centre National de la Danse, Pantin – Centre des Arts, Enghien-les-Bains – CNDC Centre national de danse contemporaine, Angers – ICI—Centre chorégraphique national, Montpellier – Espace des Arts scène nationale, Chalon-sur-Saône – Théâtre d’Arles
Supports: No reality now is supported by the PROGRAM CHIMERES BY THE MINISTERE DE LA CULTURE - DGCA carried by the Lieu Unique, Nantes – Théâtre Nouvelle Génération CDN, Lyon – Espace des Arts, Chalon-sur-Saône – CN D Centre National de la Danse
Funding partners: No reality now has government support as part of the “Augmented live performance” programme, under the France 2030 strategy for the cultural and creative industries sector, managed by the Caisse des Dépôts – CNC-DICRéAM – Ville de Paris – Région Île-de-France – Région Sud
J'y pense souvent (...) is supported by DRAC Île-de-France
This work benefits from a support by the State, ArTeC, led by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche in the frame of the program Investissements d’avenir (ANR-17-EURE-0008)
Industrials partners: Homido – Recommerce

SPECIAL THANKS TO Elisabeth Caravella, Sabrina Calvo, Pierre-Olivier Deschamps, Guillaume Depestèle - GJGears

© photo – Marc Domage / Virtual reality DA: studio Small Creative © Florian Salabert

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