In theory. Dance extended through virtual reality

As the metaverse moves from teenage bedrooms into everyday life — often accompanied by increasing social isolation — we approach immersive media as collective social experience grounded in human interaction.

En–Knap’s very own invention Stage360 explores new ways of experiencing dance through virtuality. Using 360° capture, ambisonic sound and new technologies, this stage invites the spectator inside the performance – closer to the performers than ever before. The viewer’s gaze from the centre of choreography is free, without a fixed frame. Each spectator becomes the director of their own experience, choosing which part of the 360 sphere to watch, where to focus. This is not simply watching dance, but stepping into it.

This is a dance that, in its marriage with technology, transcends the trope that in such reality we are “alone together”, or “together alone”. Through immersion and participation, it allows for the transformation of audience into community, of sociability into sociality.

In practice. Portable event – Collective viewing.

Since 2019, En–Knap has been producing VR360 dance works developed for collective viewing, touring and flexible presentation formats. The format is adaptable to different infrastructures, allowing dance and choreography to circulate through new environments and reach audiences with limited access to live performance. Beyond theatres, cinemas and galleries, Stage360 can bring diverse artistic voices into schools, community centres, hospitals, libraries, smaller cultural venues and other social contexts. 

Emerging from practical questions of access and continuity during the Covid period, Stage360 demands virtual reality being a social format rather than an individual technological experience — one that encourages conversation, shared attention and new ways of experiencing choreography together.

The portability of the format opens new touring models. Stage360 can travel with minimal technical requirements and a significantly reduced environmental footprint, bringing dance to unconventional locations without the logistical demands of group travelling. In this sense, Stage360 expands not only how dance is experienced, but also how it circulates.

Evolution

Initially developed during the pandemic in 2020 as a practical response to extraordinary circumstances – closed theatres and interrupted touring – the project gradually evolved into an independent artistic and production format. Through experimentation with 360° filming, ambisonic sound and immersive experience of virtual reality, Stage360 developed new ways of producing, presenting and distributing dance. What began as a practical response to a moment of interruption soon evolved into a long-term artistic and technological research platform.

I. Initiation: Ringside

An important role in the evolution of Stage360 was played by John Ashford, dance critic, curator and founder of Aerowaves, whose Ringside (VR180) initiative explored new ways of circulating dance through virtual reality. Ringside proposed a simple yet radical premise: virtual reality should not isolate spectators within technology but recreate the social conditions of theatregoing.

As a project partner, En–Knap further developed this model independently by creating original 360-degree works, while retaining the same underlying principle: to understand virtual reality as a shared cultural experience that connects immersive viewing with conversation, education and exchange.

Rather than treating VR as a substitute for live performance, Stage360 understood it as a new possibility for encounter — capable of crossing geographical barriers, reaching communities with limited access to contemporary dance, and creating meaningful engagement with dance beyond traditional theatre infrastructures.

II. Virtualising Existing Works

Supported by the Centre for Creativity (CzK) and the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), the first phase of Stage360 focused on translating existing stage performances into immersive experiences.

Through an open call in 2021, Slovenian contemporary performance makers were invited to adapt completed works for 360° filming, exploring how choreography changes once the spectator enters the centre of the stage. The project enabled the acquisition of En–Knap’s first VR equipment and the development of alternative modes of producing, sharing and touring dance.

III. Creating Original VR Works

The second phase shifted towards works created specifically for virtual environments. A new open call in 2022 invited artists to create original performances for 360° viewing, treating VR as its own choreographic condition. This transition expanded collaboration between choreographers, filmmakers, sound designers and VR specialists, opening new questions around spatial composition, audience perception and immersive dramaturgy.

IV.  Social event

Newly developed formats combined live performance, VR viewing, moderated discussions, workshops and participatory activities into collective event structures in which audiences enter the social space of VR theatre together.

As the performances themselves were filmed around a central 360° camera, the viewing situation mirrored this circular composition: audiences gathered in a circle experienced the works simultaneously through VR headsets and continued the event through collective discussion. These conversations provided audiences, then unfamiliar with such modes of spectatorship, with a theoretical framework through which to approach and reflect on the experience.

In this phase, we explored software solutions that would allow groups of spectators to watch the works synchronously. Discussions and lectures offered audiences, then unfamiliar with these modes of spectatorship, with a theoretical framework through which to approach and reflect on the experience. The title Stage360 itself emerged from these modes of presentation.

V. External Collaborations

Beyond producing its own works, Stage360 offers its production to external artists, institutions and commissioning partners. This included a complete framework for the creation, presentation and circulation of a project: technical equipment, production support, filming, post-production and distribution in projects such as Being Hamlet (produced for Flying Opera, 2024, Klagenfurt)

Stage360 also developed projects in which VR360 functioned as a medium for storytelling and cultural interpretation. A Hole in the Future (commissioned by the Municipality of Trbovlje, 2023) connected local history and place with a dance narrative. Drawing on Trbovlje’s industrial heritage, the project translated local stories, memories and identities into a 360° experience accessible on personal mobile devices.

VII. Networks & Green Touring

Today, Stage360 operates through international touring and co-production networks that support the circulation of immersive choreography across Europe. Collaborations with platforms such as Moving Balkans, GO! 2025, Moovy festival, COORPI, Teatri Riflessi, Dance on Screen and others have enabled VR works to travel between festivals, cultural venues and regional contexts through lightweight, portable presentation formats.

VR enables a lightweight and portable mode of presentation that does not require extensive technical infrastructure or the travel of an entire artistic and technical team. For VR touring, only one person typically travels, as the work can be presented without transporting large quantities of equipment. This model reduces the logistical requirements and environmental footprint of touring, while opening up new possibilities for more sustainable international circulation of contemporary dance.