Recoil have been commissioned by DanceDigital and the Hat Factory in Luton to create a new piece of work which responds to the built environment of the Hat Factory and the stimulus of Luton’s predominant industries over the years. The piece Hats, Planes and Trains will see  Recoil take over many of the spaces in the Hat Factory to create a unique environment which the viewer can explore.  Using dance coupled with technology this will be a fascinating and unusual journey into a Luton you may not have thought of.  The performance will take place in June 2010 and DanceDigital will be following it’s creation and production over the coming months on this site.

Recoil Performance Group is one of Denmark’s most exciting and successful contemporary dance groups.  Led by Tina Tarpgaard and incorporating Ole Kristensen they produce exciting and provocative work which stimulates the mind and the body. The group was formed in 2003 by choreographer Tina Tarpgaard and composer Pelle Skovmand, with the intention of establishing collaboration between artists across genre and borders.

DanceDigital in partnership with Thurrock Council commissioned David Valentine to create a new film using technology and the unique dance style of urban movement as part of the Forward Motion: Dance on Film Festival 2010 taking place at the Thameside Theatre, Grays. The finished piece, shot entirely on webcam, is a multi-layered modern interpretation of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet – combining Shakespearean text with instant messaging and an original soundtrack by Graham Boosey – all played out in an on-line chatroom entitled Computer Love (a euphemism for Cyber-Sex and a reference to the Kraftwerk song). The filmmaker again works with choreographers James Hall and Joe Livermore to further develop their fusion dance style first tested on The Duellists. Exaggerated teenage feelings are expressed in urban movement as the two would-be lovers perform to the words of the abridged scene – in direct contrast to the limitations of the clipped and abbreviated modern language of instant messaging. The audience are invited to voyeuristically spy upon their hidden private world and actions via webcam – privy to the reality of their thought processes and feelings before they reveal them on-line.