NutcrackAR – Birmingham Royal Ballet’s augmented reality countdown to Nutcracker time
Birmingham Royal Ballet has partnered with RiVR, a UK-based virtual reality company to bring a new look to The Nutcracker.
The 12 Days of NutcrackAR is the world’s first Nutcracker-themed augmented reality walking trail, which will take place around Birmingham.
It opens on 4 November at the Bull Ring, an important shopping area in the city, and is a free event. The NutcrackAR is part of the company’s *Virtual Stage that offers everyone the opportunity to discover the backstage world seeing some of the props and costumes from the BRB production of Sir Peter Wright‘s famous The Nutcracker (at Birmingham Hippodrome from 17 November until 9 December).
Using a smart device, such as a phone or tablet, viewers can see the Sugar Plum Fairy tutu and its many hand-sewn pearls and sequins, the heavily embroidered coat of King Rat and the Christmas Tree where you can see graffiti from dancers and crew from over 30 years of shows!
Each day of the countdown to opening night will highlight a different AR site across the city. Content will be accessed through posters presented in various formats with QR codes with AR content, descriptive text and voiceover plus links to ticketing information.
After the opening night of The Nutcracker at Birmingham Hippodrome on 17 November, BRB’s NutcrackAR will also be accessible in and around Hippodrome Square so audiences leaving the ‘reality’ of a performance will also be able to enjoy ‘augmented reality’ for the duration of The Nutcracker season.
*Virtual Stage is a project featuring content developed in collaboration with Canon and RiVR funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator Programme.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
