Virtual party at Hong Kong Arts Festival

Visitors to this year’s Hong Kong Arts Festival can immerse in a virtual reality party in Paris, titled Le Bal de Paris. The experience at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre has been on offer since Thursday as part of the Arts Festival.

The dance is created by Spanish choreographer and film director Blanca Li and developed by a team of 100 people. 

All 1,100 tickets were sold out according to the Hong Kong Arts Festival website.

Kot Ka-ching, 16, a secondary student, was asked by her school dance teacher to try the VR experience to try out different parts of the dance. 

“I am pretty surprised that during the dance, I can smell the scent of flowers and feel the breeze, making me fully immersed in it,” Kot said. 

“It would be great if there is someone to lead us throughout the experience, as there are too many places to explore, which made us a bit confused,” said Kot.

Alex So, 30, a media worker, said he was impressed by the sense of space of the VR experience and felt he was in a boundless world, despite being in a limited space in real life.

“I want to experience women's clothing because I never have the chance to wear it in real life,” said So. “This experience was so special. As soon as I put it on, the sense of immersion was instantly heightened.” 

“It is my first time at the Hong Kong Arts Festival,” said Catherine Zhang Ziyun, 30, the founder of Shanghai Serenade Culture. 

“I have always paid attention to the integration of culture, art, and technology. I believe art needs to be combined with science and technology to create new content and elements,” Zhang said.

Zhang added she is looking forward to seeing more VR experiences, which she said can have more interactive plots and realistic images with the advancement of technology. 

“The virtual dance can reduce the sense of social distance between participants because no one knows who the others are,” said Yannie Liu, 23, a graduate student. “No one will know even if I do something awkward, so I can move boldly while wearing the glasses.”

“Although there were some dancing parts, the overall interaction was not enough, it is more like watching the story,” Liu added.

The Festival offers three sessions of the VR dance on some days and six sessions on others. Each session has 20 audiences. It will be held from Feb. 27 to Mar. 9.