#1774: Combining Live Dance and Music in Immersive LBE Performance “L’ombre (The Shadow)”

I interviewed Etienne Li about L'ombre (The Shadow) on Tuesday, September 2, 2025 at Venice Immersive in Venice, Italy.

Here is the story synopsis for L'ombre (The Shadow):

"In Andersen’s tale The Shadow, a scientist brings his shadow to life. It becomes autonomous and manages to pass itself off as a human being in society. The shadow overtakes its master, returns to try to enslave him, and ultimately kills him when the latter tries to resist. The evident resonance with our contemporary world and its innovations — both troubling and fascinating — led choreographer Blanca Li to imagine this hybrid creation. Confronted by the dancers of the Compagnie Blanca Li and a percussionist, the audience is immersed in a fantastical universe that blurs perceptions, notions of good and evil and identity."

Here are the contextual domains that are explored:

Dance Performance [5], but creates the feeling of being within a specific neighborhood [3] via mixed reality. The story is about something from the invisible, hidden, and shadow realms [12] being embodied as a corporeal entity [1]. Then this entity becomes an enemy [7], enslaves him [12], and then ulimately kills him from an attack [8].

Here is the Elemental Center of Gravity:

1st Center of Gravity of Earth Element / Environmental and Embodied Presence: Dance performance that's theatrically stage. Audience are wearing Mixed reality headsets to mimic the projection mapped effects in the original experience. There's a fusion of live music from the group experience along with "immersive sound" and spatial audio from the VR headset and from multiple speakers in the room + the live percussive music. It is an "ambitious immersive dance, music and mixed reality show."2nd Center of Gravity of Fire Element / Active Presence: LIVE PERFORMANCE of both dance and music. No real narrative agency, and we're mostly sitting still. The original show had people moving around the space a lot more, but the constraints of Venice did not make that possible3rd Center of Gravity of Water Element / Emotional Presence: Live music that's the heart of the timing of the piece. Some pre-recorded electronic music along with live music to keep everything synchronized amongst the 50-75 VR HMDs.4th Center of Gravity of Air Element / Mental and Social Presence: It's a co-located Multi-player experience, but not much interaction with other players (don't recall if they're even represented in virtual space.) No real talking or dialog. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Shadow, but also quite a poetic interpretation of it through embodied dance. Left with more feelings from the performance rather than comprehending the arc of the story

Archetypal Themes and Character Explored:

a scientist brings his shadow to life. It becomes autonomous and manages to pass itself off as a human being in society. The shadow overtakes its master, returns to try to enslave him, and ultimately kills him

Artist Statement:

"L’Ombre is an ambitious immersive dance, music and mixed reality show for up to 200 spectators equipped with VR headsets. It blends live performance by six dancers and a percussionist with virtual universes and characters. Immersive sound, using the technologies of IRCAM, allows the electronic recorded music and live percussion to contribute to the audience’s experience."

https://vimeo.com/1111269272

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Music: Fatality