For the occasion of the founding anniversary of Bauhaus we accepted the challenge: Would it be possible to transfer the ideas of the groundbreaking Bauhaus movement to the present day - and still do justice to the great masterminds like Oskar Schlemmer and Walter Gropius?

Inspired by Oskar Schlemmer's stage experiments and Gropius' idea of the Total Theatre, we created a virtual world of costumed dance machines, exploring the question of the human-machine relationship in the digital age.

The VR experience Das Totale Tanz Theater updates and even innovates Gropius' concept of an immersive theatre, meaning that 100 years later, his vision of a total immersion finally becomes reality.

In short, „Das Totale Tanztheater“ translates his idea into the 21st century, it bridges the digital und physical world in order to create an unforgettable experience.

Based on Schlemmer's art, more than 200 pencil sketches were created in order to develop the four digital costumes which react in their digital form to the expression of the real dancer and unfold their most beautiful form through the movement.

We worked with renowned choreographer Richard Siegal and his team of talented dancers. Paying attention to every detail, their bodies were scanned and applied onto 3D models. Over the course of a three-week motion capturing shooting, we created an archive of 800 single movements which served as the basis for the programming of the interactive choreography.

Equipped with VR goggles and a controller, four visitors at a time embark on a journey through multiple levels of a vast, virtual stage space. For fifteen minutes the relationship between humans and machines is experienced in a completely new way.

Users begin the interactive experience in full control, able to move freely across the stage and explore on their own terms. However, as the ballet unfolds, the agency of users gives way to the machines, ultimately all together abandoning the humans at the end.

The accompanying soundtrack for the 360° video was composed and produced by the famous german musicians Einstürzende Neubauten.

From 16 until 24 january 2019 the opening festival at Berlin’s Akademie der Künste invited visitors on a creative and experimental journey around the legendary Bauhaus stage. The virtual reality installation ‚Das Totale Tanz Theater’ was considered the highlight of the opening festival with visitors queuing in front of the installation.

After having premiered in Berlin in January 2019, the installation will be shown in prestigious museums and festivals around the globe such as the EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam, CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, the BIPOD Festival in Beirut and at the opening of the new Bauhaus