By Adrienne Hart, Artistic Director of Neon Dance.
Neon Dance is a professional dance company based in Swindon (UK) and we tour internationally, creating work for the stage, screen and spaces in between. We work in collaboration with artists, musicians, scientists, technologists and researchers to create work that could not have been created alone.
As Artistic Director, I try to cultivate an environment where the moving body, design and technology converge in interesting and unexpected ways. We open up the making process and invite audiences to feed into each stage of development. Co-designing with audiences and applying an iterative design process makes for a richer experience for everyone.
I’ve found myself using the word ‘immersive’ more and more when describing the kind of experiences we create and its actually allowing our work to be presented in much wider contexts.
The word ‘immersive’ can mean different things in different contexts. For me, immersive is, in an arts context, art that uses technology to actively involve the audience. In 2018 we created Puzzle Creature for Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in Japan. Responding to the work of Arakawa and Madeline Gins we worked with the design collective Numen For Use, who came up with an inflatable set design where audience and performers were immersed within an inflatable bubble. During the second half of the performance the bubble slowly collapsed and became a bumpy landscape for everyone to navigate.
Presenting within one of the largest art festivals in the world meant on a practical level we had a bigger budget so we could be ambitious, both in terms of scale and the experience we offered. Artistically, we also had time to embed different lived experience into the creation process. I loved having the opportunity to work with a visually impaired community in Bristol which we invited to our hometown of Swindon to test early stage ideas, share feedback as well as flag up potential issues.
I think once the audience become part of the experience, there is an element of having to handover control. That can seem a little scary when you have a paying audience and you want to offer something that is both high quality and consistent. But what you get in return are moments of engineered serendipity; with unexpected meaningful exchange that could only have happened thanks to the unique group of audience members interacting with the world Neon Dance has created.
Our lighting designers Nico de Rooij and Djana Covic described Puzzle Creature’s inflatable set as a breathing thing… “a breathing in and breathing out between a microcosmos and macrocosmos.” A moving architecture with the object serving like an extension of the movement of all those inhabiting the space (dancers and audience). I loved that description and also how it became possible to tap into audiences’ personal histories by going through an experience physically as opposed to being an observer.
The starting point for our latest project is a series of Sonic Body Instruments, with wearable sonic extensions informed by the structural mechanics of spider webs, particularly three-dimensional cobweb formations and mooring threads—the anchor lines that stabilise webs while transmitting vibrations.
Working with the award winning artist and MIT research scientist Dr Ana Rajcevic and the composer Sebastian Reynolds, the instruments use kinetic wire networks to form multi-anchored, pre-tensioned connections between bodies and surfaces, creating a dynamic, interactive body-extension where touch and movement generate sound. The aim is to create a ‘bio-behavioural-complex’; a rich set of feedback effects between body, its behaviours and surrounding environments and sounds.
“Functioning as a responsive network between bodies and environments, these pieces serve both as structural connectors—physically linking the wearer to other bodies or surfaces—and as sonic instruments, capable of being played like interactive tactile strings.” – Dr Ana Rajcevic
Debuting as small-scale prototypes at the Festival of Tomorrow (Swindon) in February 2025, our week-long ‘lab’ at Swindon’s Designer Outlet offered a glimpse into the future development of the Sonic Body Instruments. Over 1,600 people took part, with audiences (almost entirely made up of young children and their families who would not usually attend a contemporary dance performance) engaging with the prototypes and exploring new ways of interacting with sound, space, and the body as an instrument.
“The Sonic Body lab at Festival of Tomorrow was an absolute joy, working with so many children to test out the prototypes reminded me that it’s important as an artist not to lose a sense of childlike wonder for the experimentation and play that’s so integral to developing work, especially the interactive, playful nature of this new project. I’ve already utilised audio material that we captured during the lab sessions to create sketches of ideas for the score.” – Sebastian Reynolds
The immersive tag line can definitely allow dance to be presented beyond theatre walls but more importantly, it supports more diverse voices feeding into and being part of the UK dance scene, making a richer experience for everybody.
I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next, and witnessing a growing number of artists exploring this approach to dance making. If you’d like to swap ideas or experiences, Neon Dance would love to hear from you.
Adrienne Hart (she/her) graduated from London Contemporary Dance School in 2002 and now work internationally as a choreographer and as Artistic Director of Neon Dance. She has worked in Russia, Belgium, Norway, France, Germany, Kosovo, Japan, USA, and extensively in the UK. Her work has been commissioned and supported by Arts Council England, British Council, Creative England, Sadler’s Wells, The Place, Modern Art Oxford, Glastonbury Festival, Reversible Destiny Foundation, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, South West Creative Technology Network, Pavilion Dance South West and Art Front Gallery amongst others.