HILT Dazzles Shanghai with Porsche Taycan Launch Show: black light theatre

August 2019:

The Czech black light theatre HILT Prague has achieved international acclaim by winning a competition to create a show for the unveiling of the Porsche Taycan electric vehicle in Shanghai, China. This success underscores the global recognition of the Czech school of black light theatre, particularly as the unveiling of Porsche's first electric car, a direct competitor to Tesla, was eagerly awaited by the automotive world.

Czech directors HILT black light theatre with Shanghai dancers team

For those unfamiliar with the art form, black light theatre appears to create magical illusions. Dancers seem to float, props drift through the air, and everything appears elegant and effortless. However, behind the magic lies no actual sorcery, but a meticulously crafted illusion that utilizes the interplay of light and darkness - and a great deal of hard work.

Porsche Taycan Shanghai show directed by HILT black light theatre

Born in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s, black light theatre was pioneered by theatre artist, scenographer, and director Jiří Srnec. He drew inspiration from light and shadow performances in France, developed innovative technological processes, and infused them with countless ideas, establishing the phenomenon of black light theatre as we know it today.

"On stage, there are two groups of people: the dancers and the 'black actors'. If everything goes well during the performance, the black actors are never seen," explains Klarisa Císařová, choreographer and dancer for HILT Black Light Theatre. "The black actors, as their name suggests, wear black clothing that doesn't reflect light, including hoods and gloves. This allows them to move props or assist the visible dancers, who wear costumes made of fabrics that react to UV light, unnoticed. This creates the illusion that dancers or props are flying through the air, seemingly on their own. The more skilled they are, the better the illusion."

Heading to China!

The opportunity to create the performance in China almost slipped through HILT's fingers, thanks to a spam filter. "I had a phone with the Zenfone operating system, and I kept getting spam with news articles, which annoyed me quite a bit," recalls Theodor Hoidekr, director, director, and dancer for HILT Black Light Theatre. "I almost missed an email from Mr. Zen Zhong from China that arrived in early July." Zhong, the director of the largest Chinese entertainment agency, SeasonOnStage, contacted HILT to inquire about their interest in collaborating on a short black light theatre show. He only mentioned that it would be a show in Shanghai for a German partner at the launch event of a new car. The surprise was for everyone, as the Czech representatives only learned on-site that it was for the prestigious Porsche Taycan unveiling.

Chinese dancers making black light theatre

Czech Art Takes the Audience's Breath Away

"I've done similar events around the world with our theatre," Hoidekr recalls. "That's why I was surprised that, in this case, the clients only wanted a director and a choreographer." The theatre director had no doubt who to call: Klarisa Císařová. Actually, Pivodová back then, which could have been the only snag, as the beautiful dancer and choreographer was about to get married. However, professionalism and the desire for a once-in-a-lifetime experience won out. After HILT succeeded in the major online competition, just a week after her wedding, she travelled to Shanghai with Hoidekr instead of her husband.

"The goal was clear: to create a show for the world premiere of the Porsche Taycan with 20 local dancers, knowing that we had to be perfect to avoid embarrassing the Czech Republic," says Theodor Hoidekr. Císařová adds: "My task was to devise the choreography to the given music, how the visible and invisible dancers would move. For example, when one of the dancers had a flying scene, I had to figure out how many people would carry him and how. The hardest thing is to make the illusion of flight look believable."

Such performances can also be dangerous. For instance, one of the visible dancers had a moment where he would fall backwards from a height, so it was necessary to precisely coordinate his invisible colleagues to be in exactly the right place at the right time to prevent anyone from getting hurt. "The dancer has to trust his colleagues a lot at such a moment," Klarisa Císařová shrugs. "If the illusion succeeds in black light theatre, not only does the audience not see the black dancers, but neither does he himself. So falling backwards into a dark space from a height is no easy feat."

A Fine-Tuned Team

A group of twenty young dancers between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one awaited Hoidekr and Císařová in the dance hall of the Shanghai International Dance Center. The beginnings were not easy, as explaining how Czech black light theatre works, what each prop is for, and what effect is ultimately created, to twenty dancers, none of whom spoke English, was quite a challenge. "At least we showed them some black light theatre clips online so they knew what they were getting into," laughs Klarisa. "They had to understand that we would be covering some of them in black, and if all went well, they wouldn't be seen at all. Which I regretted, because they were all incredibly talented. But they accepted it and it was obvious that they were enjoying it."

Time was of the essence, and hard work awaited everyone. Fortunately, the young charges of the Czech director and choreographer were very quick learners. "They learned it in a day and a half, and we spent the second half of the second day just polishing the whole performance," says Klarisa Císařová. "Everyone kept to the deadlines exactly. If it was supposed to start at ten, then everyone was simply warmed up and ready at ten, and it was impossible to finish before six according to the schedule. However, the same applied to breaks. As soon as it hit 12:30, the lunch break started, and nothing could stop it."

The dissatisfaction and nervousness of both Czech perfectionists peaked. "The situation on the hall was so demanding at times! Eight dancers stood to the right of the stage, exiting in the darkness behind after a certain action, and at that very second, something else was happening on the left with ten dancers," Hoidekr shakes his head. "It wasn't normal dance choreography. Only the main dancer was visible, and the others had to create the magic of black light theatre using props and various covers..."

Hoidekr and Císařová dedicated the entire night to precisely counting the musical beats in each sequence of the script, endlessly addressing lifts, somersaults, and other dance elements. It helped that both the director and choreographer were originally dancers themselves, so they could demonstrate many things themselves on the spot when needed. "At the end of the rehearsal on the second day, we finally felt that the production was happy and acknowledged that the Czechs had come to do a good job," says Hoidekr contentedly. And the smile remained the following day, when representatives from the artistic agency came to watch the rehearsal a day earlier than originally planned, allowing them to provide initial feedback. Fortunately, it was positive.