Our dear friend Sooni Taraporevala informs us of Yeh Ballet, a lovely virtual reality short film she recently completed.
Sooni writes…
Yeh ballet kya cheez hai? What is this thing called ballet Amir asks in the beginning of the film. Manish who had saved and gifted himself modern dance classes around the same time, also had no clue. A mere 2 ½ years later both of them went from very humble backgrounds to the Oregon Ballet Theatre school in USA on a full scholarship. It was my privilege to document the tail end of their amazing journey.
My route to them was a circuitous one. My son Jahan, a student at Brown University, home for the summer, in the car on the way home from the airport, was excited about his new interest – wanting to make a VR film. I had just read an article about Anand Gandhi’s VR lab. I put Jahan in touch with Anand who was very welcoming. Jahan started working on his film at the lab and they approached me to make a VR film for them.
Always of the belief that you can teach an old dog new tricks, I was eager to learn something new. Of all the subjects they presented to me the one I was instantly drawn to was about two boys from very low income families who had been discovered by an Israeli American ballet teacher Yehuda Maor and were so good they had been offered a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet but couldn’t go because the American consulate had turned them down for a visa. The reason I chose this was for personal reasons. I had learnt ballet myself as a child in South Bombay. [continue reading…]
I’m really happy to share with you my latest film Yeh Ballet. It’s about two boys from working class families in Mumbai who dream about being principal dancers in American ballet companies.
It’s a VR (Virtual Reality) 15 minute film. It has been shot and can be viewed in a 360 degree radius.
Get the iOS and android app today and enjoy the film in immersive #VR if you have a VR headset
Even if you don’t you can download the Elsevr app on your phone or computer which has Yeh Ballet as well as some other VR films.
iOS app – https://goo.gl/s02RGH
Android app – https://goo.gl/fuZYmM
Or watch on web on the ElseVR website.
Website – www.elsevr.tv/yeh-ballet
If watching on your computer you can move your mouse or your finger on the trackpad to see 360 degrees,
If watching on a phone you can either move the image with your finger or move the phone and the image will move.