SURGE

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In collaboration with Tom Dale Company and Jemima Brown

 

SURGE is a hybrid performance work developed with Tom Dale Company, presented both as a live stage show and an immersive VR experience. It explores the concept of the ‘digital human’ — a figure suspended between organic life and artificial environments — through movement, music, and digital visual design.

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Working with choreographer Tom Dale, performer Jemima Brown, and composer Ital Tek, I created the digital visual world that surrounds the performance. The goal was to create a visual language that could exist in dialogue with the choreography — a kind of interplay between the dancer and the projected environment.

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I used Notch to develop the visuals, shaping them in close collaboration with the choreography. Rather than building standalone content, the design process was fluid and responsive — developed live in the studio alongside Jemima’s movement, allowing the visuals to grow organically from the performance.

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The result is a tightly integrated audiovisual experience: abstract forms and layered textures suggest data streams, digital landscapes, and shifting inner worlds — complementing the themes of disconnection, transformation, and identity.

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I was also involved in developing the overall concept for the piece, working alongside Tom and Jemima to ensure the visuals became a core part of the storytelling — not just a technical element.

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SURGE was later adapted into a short film for the BBC’s Dance Passion, bringing the work to wider digital audiences and expanding its reach beyond the stage.

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“Barret Hodgson’s digital design slices through the stage like sheets of light... neural networks chasing across the floor, sometimes controlled by the performer, sometimes controlling her.”

The Guardian ✮✮✮✮

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TOM DALE COMPANY

2021- 2024