You can see some of my early storyboards in the digital model alongside the final states above. I photographed these between shows.

This project marked several firsts for me: designing a dance piece, for touring to three venues including Project Arts Centre’s large space upstairs. I also led my first touch tour, alongside the wonderful Mo Harte, who provided our audio described performance.

I was given a lot of creative freedom by my incredibly talented collaborators, Fearghus and Isabella. Thank you both for trusting and inspiring me with the energy and freedom you brought. This challenged me, especially with the video design, which I treated like another “performer,” so to speak. Their early inspirations and the words they used—like “lake,” recalling a time they went skinny dipping in Annaghmakerrig—gave me an insight into their world. Their experiments with Instagram filters also helped inspire the design, connecting the body and nature with a digital, fantastical vibe. The brilliant fashion designer Gregor had already created most of the costumes before I joined the team, which gave a further base for inspiration—all the pearls and raven-black materials. I responded to these with bold, contrasting colours and pearl-like balloons.

Although the piece is divided into “containers,” much of it is improvised, so the design had to be interactive, responding to the performers’ energies. For example, the balloons could be activated through touch and several of the video cues were triggered instinctively as I watched. I also drew heavily from the music that was the same for every show. We used live feed during two moments, where the performers were lit by the projection.

In many ways, this design feels more “me” than other design projects I’ve done. I was able to create something I found beautiful, dramatic and atmospheric with the support of the team. Part of being a good designer is adapting to the needs of a production, but it was refreshing to incorporate my wildest visions with ease and a sense of experimentation. A little glitter, lava, lightning. All of the video content I made myself, through many renders using old and new techniques. No stock footage here—I generally avoid it unless absolutely necessary.