Panasonic will present with Shochiku, renowned global Kabuki producer, with support from MGM Resorts International, an elaborate, high-tech outdoor performance unlike anything Las Vegas or the U.S. has ever seen. The show will feature a Kabuki-style theatrical event with larger-than-life animation and water choreography in the Kabuki masterpiece entitled “Koi-Tsukami,” or “Fight with a Carp,” as a large fish and turbulent sea are projected onto the Bellagio Hotel Fountains in a battle scene.

Panasonic's PT-DZ21K projectors creates a dreamy landscape for Japanese Kabuki. (Photo courtesy of Shochiku and teamLab)

The scenery will be set through artistic mastery via water screen projection, a high-tech visual technique in which an illusion is created from light beaming through an imperfect wall of water making it suddenly appear multidimensional. The display will be composed using 15 Panasonic PT-DZ21K projectors. This same model was selected to light up the London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in 2012 and is a powerful, compact 20,000 lumen projector with a 10,000:1 contrast ratio and WUXGA resolution.

The event, to run on August 14, 15 and 16, aims to raise global awareness of Kabuki, which is classical Japanese dance-drama. It also looks to blend a traditional art form with new high-tech elements such as water screen projection, designed by Tokyo artist collective teamLab. The event will be performed by famous Kabuki performers Somegoro Ichikawa and Yonekichi Nakamura. This is a prelude to the 2016 Kabuki Festival which will be held in Las Vegas.