Virtual Reality Content

Virtual Stage

Virtual Reality Content

Explore the world of ballet in a whole new way, previously inaccessible to the audience

A Swan’s Story

Birmingham Royal Ballet has worked closely with Clive Booth and Canon to create A Swan’s Story, an immersive journey behind the scenes of Sir Peter Wright and Galina Samsova’s Swan Lake, with its spectacular designs by Philip Prowse, alongside young dancer Regan Hutsell and other members of Birmingham Royal Ballet.

A Swan’s Story is designed to inspire young people for whom live theatre environments may present challenges. We'll be sharing more information about where and when you can watch A Swan's Story here as soon as we can.

Watch behind-the-scenes from A Swan's Story below.

Our work with Clive Booth and Canon has unlocked the possibilities VR technology has for storytelling within classical ballet by creating A Swan’s Story, a virtual experience akin to stepping into the world of our spectacular Swan Lake and pushing the capabilities of current VR capture technology to its limit. It is only through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator Programme and Canon that BRB was able to invest in the equipment and the training to make this ground-breaking, immersive film possible.

Regan Hutsell is standing in front of a virtual reality camera in a dimly lit studio and is the main focus of the image. Regan has dark hair tied back using a feathered headband with silver and pearl detailing. Regan is wearing a white tutu with pearl detailing from the ballet, Swan Lake. Clive Booth is standing to the right, but is out of camera focus. Clive has dark hair and is wearing glasses and a black top. The virtual reality camera that Clive is standing behind has multiple screens and a spherical microphone on the top. The camera is black and out of focus. A bright light is shining from behind Regan, and is lighting the studio as well as reflecting off of the camera and the sparkly detailing on Regan’s costume. In the background, there is a black, glossy grand piano, wall mounted TV, ballet barre and mirrors on the wall. The floor is grey with scuffs on it. Credit Mark Spencer.

“For Canon, this was a perfect partnership and application of VR technology to provide a real benefit to the community. We were happy to bring our product and technical expertise to help support Clive and Birmingham Royal Ballet in their VR journey.”

Mark Fensome, Canon European Product Professional

“As a photographer and filmmaker, I’m always looking for new and meaningful ways to tell a story and now for the first time I can immerse an audience quite literally inside the narrative.

“Swan Regan Hutsall shares her journey from a childhood dream to finally becoming a ballerina. This project brings dance to those who wouldn’t normally be able to visit live theatre and is a wonderful example of technology used for good.”

Clive Booth, Photographer, filmmaker and Canon Ambassador

A complicated camera is the centre focus of the image, light shining off it’s matt black components. The camera is being held by a camera tripod and supported by Clive Booth’s left hand resting on the rig. The camera has various coiled wires coming out of it, antenna at the front, a dual lens and a spherical microphone sat on the top. Clive is facing away from the image, looking into the background. Clive has short brown hair, is wearing glasses and a black fleece. George Wood is standing in the background out of focus. George has shaved hair, a dark trimmed beard, is wearing beige trousers, a black t-shirt and grey over-shirt. There are two out of focus people in the background in conversation. A light is shining behind George and in the far background, balconies of the theatre can be seen. Image credit: Mark Spencer.

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Removing Barriers to Theatre

Through strategic partnerships with leading companies, we have not only developed immersive experiences but also nurtured in-house skills to create our own virtual reality content specifically tailored for neuro-divergent audiences.

We recognise the power immersive technology has to break down barriers and pave the way for a more diverse and artistic landscape. Our aim is to inspire the next generation of dancers in our own Freefall Dance Company and other artists with learning difficulties, unlocking their creative potential and fostering inclusivity in the world of dance and arts.

Josef Reed, Barry Kirby and Tom Bright of the Freefall Dance Company are sitting in a line from left to right of the image on chairs in a corner of a dance studio whilst George Wood from the filming team stands behind Barry whilst holding two white virtual reality (VR) headsets with both hands. George has shaved hair and a dark trimmed beard with a hooped earring in the left ear. George is wearing a white t-shirt, black trousers and a grey over-shirt. George is looking at Barry’s reaction to the headset content and is smiling. Clive Booth is kneeling down to the right of of Barry, looking at them and smiling as they react to the content. Clive has short brown hair and is wearing a light tan coloured jacket with red tartan lining. The Freefall Dancers are all wearing black t-shirts with the white Birmingham Royal Ballet text logo, below which is written ‘Freefall Dance’ also in white. Barry is smiling and looking to the right. Barry has very shaved dark hair and is sitting centrally in the image, raising both arms to chest height with both thumbs up. Josef is sitting on the left of the image and is looking at Barry. Josef has short brown hair and has their arms folded. Tom is sitting on the right side of the image and is also looking at Barry. Tom also has short brown hair but only a portion of Tom can be seen in the image as the frame cuts off half of their body. In the background of the image there is a black, glossy baby grand piano behind Clive and Barry. At the back of the image there are white panelled walls, large, red framed windows, a light brown ballet barre and to the right, a white curtain. Image credit: Andy Ford.
Josef Reed, Barry Kirby and Tom Bright of the Freefall Dance Company working with the team from Canon Credit: Andy Ford 2023
Seven members of Freefall Dance Company are performing their ballet Chairs. They are each seated on a pale, high-back chair, each in a different pose.

Freefall Dance Company's Chairs

Explore the stage as Freefall perform Chairs. This film was captured to work on a virtual reality device.

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It is very early days in terms of our use of VR technology and dance, however it does seem that it presents incredible potential moving forward. Already, it has facilitated the opportunity for a different quality of engagement and sensory experience participants can have with ballet - offering access to a highly intimate theatrical experience that would be near impossible to replicate in other ways. I’m excited by this technology for the artistic and creative possibilities it can offer. Additionally, as a tool for in-depth cultural learning experiences, not least for those marginalised from the more formal theatre and workshop opportunities.

Lee Fisher, Head of Creative Learning

Six members of the Freefall Dance Company are performing in a dance studio. The performers, wearing black t-shirts with a white Birmingham Royal Ballet logo on the front left, and a larger white logo at the rear, with ‘Freefall Dance Company’ on are biased towards the left of the image in various poses. The dancers are lit by the sun streaming in from the two large dark red framed windows on the rear wall. The foremost performer is standing with their left arm raised, and right arm pointing towards the floor whilst looking off into the distance as the sun shines from behind them, their shadow is being cast onto the floor. Towards the back of the room there is a ballet barre, a glossy black baby grand piano, and some stacked black chairs. The studio has large rectangular light panels in the ceiling, with half wooden panelled and half white walls. The floor is a matt grey with scuffs on it. Credit Andy Ford.

Freefall Dance Company

Freefall Dance Company is Birmingham Royal Ballet’s company for talented dancers with learning disabilities. Founded and still led by Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Head of Creative Learning Lee Fisher, this year Freefall celebrates its 21st birthday.

As well as giving regular performances, members of Freefall also lead workshops for adults who teach or work with learning disabled people.

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