Another major technological challenge, notes Ayats, was the live utilisation of motion capture technology. "We really wanted to do it, but it wasn't stable enough for two 40-minute shows a day," he says. In the end they resorted to what Dupont calls, with a twinkle, "a sort of subterfuge". Instead of fitting the performers with motion-capture sensors and screening the VR footage live, the augmented version is pre-recorded and the dancers must duplicate the recording exactly.

While acknowledging that this is a constraint for the dancers, Dupont emphasises that VR is a tool which reflects the body with remarkable precision. "When I watched their avatars, I found that I could recognise each dancer and their interpretation of the movement."  And Ayats, who admits spending more time "sitting at a screen" than in the theatre, adds: "In our industrialised society, we sometimes forget about the body and dance is 100% the body. So combining VR with dance seemed a valid way to question new forms."

The technology developed for No Reality Now, including the headsets and their programming, is being made available to other artists and a number of applications have been received for new projects. "So it can be shared. That's important," says Dupont, pointing out that artists are keen to incorporate new tools in their work as soon as they are reliable enough to be used on stage.