What is noise? This is the question that Nua Dance seeks to explore in this visually striking, complex and hugely imaginative interactive dance experience. It invites audiences to consider noise beyond hearing, as a force that can be both overwhelming and exhilarating, as experienced by those who don’t conform to traditional stereotypes set up by society at large. 

Accessibility is at the heart of NOISE and the experience has been designed from the ground up to cater for a variety of audience needs. At the start of the experience, viewers are asked to select from a number of different accessibility options including BSL and written descriptions of sounds that tailor the way in which the project is presented.

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In NOISE, the viewer is introduced to a trio of hearing Deaf dancers as they explore their relationship to noise. Inspired by their lived experiences, these journeys of self-discovery examine ideas of isolation, connection, catharsis and introspection through highly demanding movements that playfully display the full range of the dancers' capabilities. Scenes consists of solo, duet or group performances that are strung together by viewer choices.

Alongside examining noise from an emotional perspective, the production team has also sought to convey noise as something physical. The team makes use of a number of production techniques to generate the visceral quality of noise including bouncing sounds and images off reflective surfaces to multiply their effect. These can be seen in select scenes.

To support a variety of accessibility needs, the production team called on StoryFormer's representation system. This system allows for multiple versions of the same scene to exist simultaneously in the same project. Tagged with metadata, these variations are then surfaced as required, depending on the accessibility options selected upfront by the viewer. In this way, the experience can be tailored to meet personal needs and requirements and it is one of the primary advantages of flexible media.

NOISE is a Dance Passion project commissioned by BBC Arts and One Dance UK. Supported by Arts Council England.