Thomas Noone was a late starter by anyone’s standards. That he is now a world class choreographer, having only taken up dancing classes while studying geology at Oxford is therefore a stunning achievement.

Back to show us what he’s made of, the Barcelona-based dance aficionado is one of the highlights of this year’s Dancin’ Oxford festival, celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a stunning collection of events, boasting more than 250 workshops and 300 performances from dance companies from across the globe, as well as eight large-scale spectacular events.

Spain has been Thomas’ base for 19 years now and Medea is his most recent work, which will be premiering here next week.

And yet Oxford was once his home, and where he kickstarted his dancing career, his parents both being doctors. Yet because no one in his academic family had artistic tendencies, his tapping feet were largely neglected.

Attending Magdalen College, Thomas then won a place at University College to study geology and while here joined the university dance society.

Utterly hooked, he then signed up for every dance group and club in Oxford from jazz to disco and ballet. When his Indian-Caribbean family moved to Jamaica he continued dancing before electing to join Rambert at the end of university rather than becoming a geologist.

“My mother wrote to my tutor to ask about me becoming a dancer and luckily he said it would be fine, even though I didn’t know if I’d ever make it in the world of dance. But I wanted to dance, it was as simple as that.”

Inevitably, Thomas loved choreography, setting up Thomas Noone Dance when he moved to Barcelona with his long-term partner.

His dance journey really took off in Spain, his choreography skills now in huge demand around the world, he is constantly travelling overseas to perform on a global stage.

“We want to show our work to as many people as possible,” he explains. “So for me dance is very much about the visual and how the audience perceives it.

“Even when I was dancing I was pretty distracted because I was always trying to work out new moves and how I could improve them or choreograph them differently so I often lacked the necessary concentration.”

So how did Medea come about? “A friend suggested I adapted the Greek tragedy for the stage, even though I don’t do narrative stories, and I laughed at the time, but the idea just wouldn’t go away so eventually I just choreographed it.

“It was a massive challenge and it was nice to have the story ready and waiting, although everyone has their own perceptions of what and how Medea is, but I like to be taken out of my comfort zone and to give the audience some contemporary dance they will like.”

Where did he start? “It needed to be approachable and universal because dance is something everyone should be able to access, so it can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be.

“There is something about bringing people to dance and seeing them react to a story told through movement and not text. We want everyone to come and enjoy it.

So what can we expect? “Six dancers, a minimalist set, amazing lighting, surround sound, an original soundtrack. You’ll have to come and see for yourself. It’s more about Medea – her perception of herself, and how people perceive her. She decides on this dramatic course of action. Everyone around her is quite weak, so I centre on her and her feelings. I decided to make it a bit more spare and reined in, because I couldn’t match the enormity of the work, so it’s understated, with the same emotional impact.”

As for Thomas, he says he still has flashes of conscience about whether dance is a valid use of his time before always deciding it has paid off.

“I’m still as obsessive about dance and choreography as ever so coming back to Oxford will be amazing and premiering at the festival seems very fitting.”

Medea-Oxford Playhouse
March 4-5 01865 305305 or oxfordplayhouse.com
as part of Dancin’ Oxford          
Feb 26-March 7 dancinoxford.co.uk