Have you seen the full gala? There are many sections where they interlace full intense cgi, it’s kinda like the new apple conference transitions where they purposefully don’t aim for reality, more like an enhanced experience that may or not have a purely live version.

Can you elaborate on where? I'm not seeing anything at all at 1:25. This is a timestamp to 1:24: https://youtu.be/mUmlv814aJo?t=84

I was initially somewhat skeptical as well because this looks like a surprisingly massive leap in robotics capability, but haven't been able to find anything particularly sus.

Start watching at like 1:19 and see the kids don't have their own staff. Then at around 1:24 they do.

I think you're seeing a magic trick that's been around forever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-KDuOvMAfQ&t=80s

Ahhh! When he said staffs I assumed he meant people, not staves! Yeah, that's 100% CG. Here [1] you can see where the kids take a stance where it was to be edited in, and if you pause at the exact moment - it looks pretty bad, with something like a lightsaber just popping in the kid's hand.

Hmmm. Not sure what to make of this. I wish it was possible to see the raw unedited footage. It makes me question everything else.

[1] - https://youtu.be/mUmlv814aJo?t=82

If you watch at 0.25 speed, you can see the staff is actually a magician's cane. It's a coiled up bit of plastic that springs open when you release the ends. You can see similar tricks on YouTube, like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-j6G4sPwWU

That's true, and the wobbliness of the cane is indeed characteristic of this device.

That definitely does seem viable. I suppose never say 100%...

That's fair, I think the fact that at 1:16 when they land on the floor one hand remains coiled as if holding something in it makes that a likely possibility. Guess I wasn't expecting a magic trick!