I caught up with Ruairí ahead of the show to hear just what the pair is hoping to convey to audiences.

"Siriol and I have been working under the title Celtic Radical for nearly three years now, the body of work is an ongoing research and so the idea for the show arrived organically through our work together, other productions and a need to respond to the climate in Wales and Ireland. 

"The title itself comes from Simone Weil, a French philosopher and mystic who is a huge influence on our practice. 

"In the book The Need for Roots, Weil builds a type of survey for the soul, assessing the needs or necessary conditions for humanity.

"With this project we wanted to interrogate the necessary conditions for contemporary Welshness/Irishness, to explore where we are coming from, culturally, historically, socially, linguistically.

"We are attempting to dance from a place of Celtic sensibilities, drawing on the multiple roots available to us for support to imagine opening up a new space, in form, performance and dance."

The pair first met during danceWeb, an international residency during Impulstanz, the largest international contemporary dance festival and realised their shared interests.

Their residency at Chapter has been rewarding and has seen them developing the duet in response to the venue, spending time meeting people from Canton, Cardiff Market, and The National Museum Wales and trying to put down some roots. 

Ruairí added: "We have accumulated material and a practice for Celtic Radical over the last two years and this material informs and supports the creative process. 

"We have been considering our roots in a wider dance ecology and many of our 'dance folk' have supported us by sending us dance scores and materials which have informed our daily practice. 

"We always work in response to the place that we are performing: normally we take our audiences out on a walk through the city, or to observe a dance in the sea surf at night. 

"This time we are bringing the outside in, so we have spent the month getting a sense of what is possible in a more traditional theatre space."

The piece aims to appeal to anyone interested in dance, live art, language, questions of identity and issues of minority languages, and will see each of the three languages struggling but often succeeding to hold an equilibrium.

The pair see their work as a kind of 'social acupuncture', acting as: "an intervention, an input, a slight disruption to the norm, of the social body, which in turn hopefully causes a response."

The Need for Roots is at Chapter until Saturday 30 November and is then at Aberyswyth Arts Centre on Thursday 5 December.

Find out more about the Celtic Radical collective or follow them on Twitter: @celticradical

You can also view a trailer of the piece

The production sees Shakespeare's text pared right back so that the audience never leaves the company of the couple and the three witches, and in Judith's own words is intense in the way it plays with theatrical language.

She told me: "I wanted to explore the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in a way that a traditional production just can't and really try to understand the journey they go on. There's something about them as a couple which means they go further together than they ever would go alone.

"Lady Macbeth disappears in the original play after featuring quite heavily early on. I wanted to join up the private moments the couple share and really observe their dynamic.

"At the beginning of the story they are happy and have everything they could possibly want but it’s not enough for them.

"In terms of the cast we just have them and the three witches who have the power to manipulate their form and turn into various key characters like Banquo and Macduff.

"The story is not told purely through dance but sees the actors interpret and explore the dramatic moment.

"Rather than begin with shapes I chose to begin the choreography with the text so every gesture is inspired by an emotional moment and the desires of that character in that moment."

In order to make it possible to tell the story, the production also utilises snippets of film which see the witches appear and disappear out of nowhere in their various guises.

The play is also fascinating in the way it plays with language - Lady Macbeth is a Welsh speaker but her husband isn't and the text sees acclaimed poet Mererid Hopwood's new Welsh-language translation interwoven with English, Polish and Hebrew.

Macbeth is able to understand her when she speaks Welsh, in part due to her physical expression.

The three witches all hail from different periods of time and different parts of the world and when under duress return to their native tongue, so when Macduff finds Duncan's body his horror is expressed in his own language.

Judith felt no need to include subtitles because of the emphasis placed on physical gesture.

She told me: "When a language is spoken that isn't English it is framed by enough English so the audience can understand what is being said.

"It has been very liberating working this way and filling in the air around the original scenes, so we learn a bit more about this fascinating relationship which is fiery and physical and very sexually charged."

The production also features a specially-created score by the Irish pianist and composer Conor Linehan which will be played live on stage by the Elysian Quartet at the shows in Cardiff and London.

Judith added: "It's a vibrant, exhilarating 90-minute show which runs straight through without an interval and is very beautiful visually. The actors are extremely passionate and create an energy in the theatre that is palpable."

The show also stars Gwyn Emberton, Matthew Harries and Sean Palmer as the three witches.

Judith set up De Oscuro in 2010 to step outside the existing paradigm which separates English and Welsh. She has found that Welsh and English can be integrated on stage and what emerges is a rich, resonating tapestry.

There will be a post-show Q&A session at the Dance House on Monday 4 November.

For information on tickets visit the Wales Millennium Centre website.

Matthew was commissioned to travel around Wales capturing reservoirs, coastlines and rivers on film to feature in the video background for the piece.

It is also accompanied by a score created by Atticus Ross who along with Trent Reznor has produced albums for Nine Inch Nails and created scores for films like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network, for which he netted an Oscar for Best Original Score.

Water Stories is an abstract piece and will see the 10 dancers translating the physical properties of water and how it freezes, flows and bursts through their own movement.

Stephen added: "It is non narrative and will see the dancers conveying the still deep coolness of a lake or the branching strands of water flowing down a river bed.

"It has been very exciting to have Atticus on board and I think he was itching to do something like this which is purely art-driven.

"I tasked him with creating music that can convey flowing rivers and he came back with a beautiful score which will carry the audience like a current."

This is Stephen's third collaboration with the company and he is very complimentary about its dancers who he says have approached his work with eagerness and a willingness to bring their own ideas to the creative process.

He said: "I hope the audience enjoy it and appreciate it as a fast, rolling, flowing stream of humanity."

Also on the triple bill will be work from the choreographers Angelin Preljocaj and Eleesha Drennan.

Angelin has created what is described as an "astonishing spectacle of evocative movement" set to Igor Stravinsky's exquisite Les Noces.

Meanwhile Eleesha presents Virtual Descent alongside an original score by Mark Bowden which is performed live by percussionist Julian Warburton and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama's Symphony Orchestra.

The autumn tour kicks off in Newtown on 3 and 4 October and there will be special performances at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on 5 and 6 November as well as performances in Brecon on 26 and 27 November.

The tour will also visit Scotland and England, with dates at the Royal Opera House in London from 30 October to 1 November. See ndcwales.co.uk for more details.

Jessie, originally from Hay on Wye, first met Addisu when the pair were working on a project for Valley and Vale Arts three years ago and Jessie danced in a piece choreographed by Addisu.

She later visited Ethiopia where Addisu is artistic director of Adugna Dance Company and the two began sharing creative ideas and came up with the concept for The World Behind Walls.

Jessie said: "The audience will be seated outside the venues looking in and wearing headphones with three-dimensional sound to really transport them into the world we are trying to convey.

"In Brecon the audience will sit on a canal boat which will add a really interesting dynamic to the show, although it does mean we have to limit the audience size.

"The performance will start behind the windows and they will see us through the panes until eventually we emerge and dance outside the building.

"The idea is that the exterior of each building will act as a set with a sense of uncertainty about where we might appear next."

Jessie invited Addisu to Wales to recreate their duet with support from Theatr Brycheiniog and funding from the Arts Council of Wales.

The piece blends her contemporary style with his more traditional style of Ethiopian dance, offering an intriguing mix between the two disciplines.

Jessie added: "It's about the journey of two people who start out separately with no real knowledge of one another and it explores what happens as they meet and separate, becoming more curious about one another's worlds, the dynamics, differences and moments of easy connection they experience."

Based in Addis Ababa, Addisu was one of a group of Ethiopian children chosen to embark on a life-changing dance training programme at Middlesex University in 1996.

Now an experienced teacher and choreographer, Addisu spends much of his time working with young people in his home town with the hope of giving them the same chance that he has had. The full story of Adugna Dance is on their website, adugnadance.org.

The World Behind Walls is at Chapter Arts Centre on 11 and 12 September at 8.45pm and Theatr Brycheiniog on 18 and 19 September, again at 8.45pm.

The project began as a large-scale three-screen dance installation and interweaves interviews and performances from the three women into a single screen narrative.

Jo told me that the representation of female performers is something she has become increasingly more interested in during a 20-year career that has seen her working with Rosas, DV8 Physical Theatre, Rambert Dance Company, Mark Bruce Company, Young Vic Theatre, Igloo and Quarantine Theatre.

"I met these incredible performers, each at different stages in their careers, and thought it would be interesting to hear in their own words about what it feels like to be on display and have portraits taken of them while they dance," she said.

"I wanted to create a choreographic portrait of each individual using their own physical language and their translation of what dance is to them, and they were incredibly generous with their stories.

"There is an intimacy in each portrait which is quite revealing and exposing and they are as idiosyncratic as the women who dance them."

Jo saw something of herself in Lost Dog performer Ino Rega, a women she views as "a phenomenal yet humble performer, extremely determined and prepared to take lots of risks".

In contrast she found the portrait of Eeva-Maria, from the organisation Arts Care Gofal Celf, refreshing in her obvious connection with the natural world, with much of the portrait shot in west Wales.

The third portrait of Annabeth, a younger member of National Dance Company Wales, was the most revealing, Jo felt.

"She was quite full of doubt, which I found quite beautiful, but I did feel some responsibility to maintain her dignity while keeping it as honest as possible.

"Portraiture was a useful tool to access the themes I was interested in: the representation of women in art and in particular dance and the line between performance and non-performance grounded by honesty in performance.

"Other themes nurtured in the process were: the beauty of trying, preparing and the psychological journey of each dancer.

"The films draw a fine line between what is real or performed and ask how is it to be watched or exhibited."

Witness was made in collaboration with filmmakers Filipe Alcada and Dawn Collins.

Jo Fong's Witness – Portraits of Women Who Dance will be at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff from 26-28 September 7pm. It is suitable for ages 12+.

I understand the dancers performed both in and out of the water. Can you tell me a bit more about the challenges of asking them to do this and why you chose to set it that way?

Pal o' Me Heart is based on Earthfall's award-winning live production of At Swim Two Boys, the latter of which was adapted in collaboration with the author Jamie O' Neill from his acclaimed novel. In Earthfall's live production (first performed in 2004) the action takes place in water throughout the performance. This decision was made as the essential part of the characters' developing relationship and events take place when they go to the sea to swim.

Earthfall also wanted the challenge of creating a choreographic piece in water akin to their work, Girl Standing by the Lake, performed at Cardiff Coal Exchange on 4.5 tonnes of coal!

The water provoked a new way of physical interaction and risk-taking which was high impact and incredibly exciting for an audience. The dancers had to discover different ways of attacking and exploiting the performance surface, as when they jumped, dived and landed, they continued aquaplaning across the performance space.

What is it about the piece that lends itself to being shown in the 360° "Dance Dome"? What sort of experience does it offer viewers?

Earthfall's live performance was essentially edited and adapted for the Dance Dome and provides different demands on an audience. The audience is in a semi-reclined position, as in a planetarium, and the film takes place all around them in a 360° environment.

The choreography and action is adapted to take place in the sea, on the beach, in the harbour, on the cliff-face and in the city streets, so we had to rework selected parts of the original elements from the live performance to adapt to the locations and the demands of 360° filming.

There are certainly challenges for the audience and us, the filmmakers. This form of presenting dance and physical performance on film is in its infancy. Close-ups are difficult as the image becomes distorted; the viewers have to be aware of a wider surround viewing screen as we are all so attuned to flat-screen cinema.

Nature looks very strong in this medium, and for Earthfall, the challenge was to get a narrative across to the viewer, as that was something we thought was important for the viewer in this medium. 

Are the dancers that star in the short film the same as those who starred in the original production about?

Daniel Connor and Murilo Leite are the dancers featured in the Pal o' Me Heart film and they starred in Earthfall's live production. The revised soundtrack is composed by Earthfall's Sion Orgon and Frank Naughton.

What have you kept from the original production and what have you changed?

The choreography has been altered and adapted to exploit the nature, surroundings and physical features of the locations. We have the beauty of the Welsh landscape embracing and provoking the action. The strength of the boys' developing love and the integrity and strength of the choreography and narrative we have tried to keep intact. The rest is about editing the essential moments for the viewer - we had to make a 20 minute short film from a 65 minute live performance, originally adapted from a 1,000 page novel.

Do you have any plans to bring the film and the Dance Dome to audiences in Wales?

Plans are certainly being made to show the film in Cardiff and hopefully other parts of Wales to be confirmed.

Who directed Pal o' Me Heart?

It was directed by us - Earthfall's Jim Ennis and Jessica Cohen - and we also created and directed the live performance. We previously won a Bafta Cymru Award for Best Short Film, in collaboration with Paul Ilswyn Thomas, for our film Too Old To Dream and this is our sixth film. The team behind Pal o' Me Heart also included Justin Duval on 360° camera and Mathew Kistenmacher as Key-grip, two essential members of the team brought over from LA.

Pal o' Me Heart will be presented by the Dance Dome in association with Dance Base at the Grassmarket, Edinburgh between 19 and 26 August.

It is being shown alongside The Beautiful, an immersive metaphysical journey through some of the landscapes of South Wales choreographed by Tanja Raman, and The Sublime. This features site-specific live captured sequences of parkour and break-dance shot within the natural and urban spaces of Wales and is choreographed by Sandra Harnisch-Lacey and set to an original composition by Luke Harney.

In 2012 he choreographed Orient for Blaze, the company's annual youth gala evening, before re-working it for the graduate ensemble tour of Wales this spring.

The duet he has created for Alternative Routes is set to the third movement of Brahms' violin concerto and sees fellow dancers from the company interacting with a 6m by 6m crinoline underskirt which gets lowered onto the stage, at times forming a circus tent and at others a skirt for the dancers themselves.

Chris said: "It looks at the negative aspects of choosing dance as a lifestyle and direction and what that means for a person on a daily basis.

"It explores the motivation, whether it is narcissistic or voyeuristic, to be constantly on show and what that says about the audience and the dancers.

"I structured the piece around the music and it sees the dancers as very dishevelled, hollow characters stuck in a repetition of performance that is at times like a circus act and at times funny, but it does have a subtle edge to it.

"It's for audiences to enjoy on a superficial level but those who want to delve deeper into the characters can do so as well."

Chris, who used to play club rugby before he got into dancing, has always seen the creative element of choreography as key to his own love of dance.

He hopes that Alternative Routes is just the starting point for more original work.

He said: "NDCWales has given us this fantastic opportunity to create and collaborate with costume, technical support and lighting designers from the Royal Welsh College, which has really widened the scope for what has been possible.

"There are not many companies out there that would nurture new talent in this way."

Alternative Routes features original work from four other choreographers, including solo, duets and ensemble dances, which explores themes such as social media, the circus and the reworking of the traditional love story.

"Alternative Routes is a chance for the dancers to work with all the choreographic ideas that have been bubbling away in their heads all year," said NDCWales dancer and choreographer Lee Johnston.

"These imaginative and innovative works will create an inspiring evening."

The show runs from 27 to 29 June at NDCWales' Dance House, Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. For ticket information go to wmc.org.uk.

Aleksandra told me that the dance piece was born out of a 2012 pilot project funded by the Arts Council of Wales and called Women In Pregnancy and offers a new way at looking at the effect pregnancy has on movement, gravity and even a woman’s career and creativity.

"It is such a special time in a woman's life and yet, for a dancer or performer, a pregnancy can mean their career is finished," she said.

"I wanted the movement to be authentic and to explore Tanja and Lara's own unique insights into pregnancy and their memories and dreams.

"This piece is the story of all of us and is very moving - I think the audience will really engage and identify with it. I think some people may even be in tears!"

One would forgive Tanja and Lara for wanting to put their feet up as their due dates loom, but Aleksandra says they have never complained about being tired during the rehearsal process.

"They are professionals and I think the piece is really important to them. Obviously the choreography has changed because the pace of their dancing has slowed a little as they have got further along in their pregnancies but they have created their own personal performance space together."

Gravida explores how the law of gravity changes during pregnancy for both mother and child and will even involve an energetic tango for two (or four as Aleksandra points out) at one point.

"It is full of passion and humour and draws on the women's own experiences of what it feels like to be a woman and to be pregnant and see your body changing."

Aleksandra hopes families and mothers with babies will be inspired to come and see the show.

Tanja, who is originally from Finland but is now also based in Cardiff, added: "As pregnancy has such a huge impact on the female dancer and her career development, particularly in the freelance dance sector, it is still a major issue with many dancers leaving it very late to have children, if choosing to have families at all.

"It is therefore wonderful to be part of creating this work with the real focus on the pregnant dancing body – such a rare treat."

After each production of Gravida, there will be a chance for the audience to chat to the dancers and ask them questions and give them feedback on the performance.

The next stage of the Women In Pregnancy project will use the arts to explore how we can each be more present in our family lives, something that is often hard to juggle with demanding careers and financial pressures.

It is being led by The Republic of the Imagination, an international network of artists with a base in Cardiff, which is directed by Aleksandra.

Last year it brought together pregnant women and professional dancers to create a performance called The Pregnant Bolero.

In 1999 it was awarded national status and became National Dance Company Wales.

In 2013 it will be celebrating this 30 year milestone with a series of special anniversary performances and a tour which opened in Ireland on Sunday and visits Wales, England, Scotland and Jersey.

I caught up with artistic director Ann over Skype from Ireland as she joined the company on the first leg of their tour.

She said that NDCWales has really exceeded the expectations they had at its inception.

"Our vision was that we wanted an international art form for Wales that was really rooted and grounded in the country but was outward looking as well.

"Obviously so much has changed for the company since then but I believe our core philosophy is the same.

"I feel the quality and scale of the work we do has evolved. We still tour, as we did back then, but now we are doing a lot more international work and we are known for it because we have definitely made our mark."

"A really good quality product takes time to nurture and develop. You have to have the right dancers and the right choreographers, so we can present shows that our audiences really enjoy and appreciate."

For Ann it is hard to pick out highlights from such a long and varied career, but one of the peaks she holds dear is last year's Olympic project, Dream, choreographed by Christopher Bruce.

"It was a real challenge, standing side by side on stage with English National Ballet and Scottish Ballet, but I was so proud to see us performing as equals, if not in size, in quality.

"Another big moment was the work we did with the big American choreographer Bill T Jones in the late 90s, when we performed with English National ballet in St David's Hall. I think that performance really changed national perceptions of us."

Moving into the Wales Millennium Centre helped transform the working lives of the company's members.

"Previously we had been split across four different sites and moving into a purpose-built rehearsal space really gave us the confidence to seek the world's best choreographers, whereas before they would demand facilities we could not provide."

The Dance House has not only transformed performance space for the company but is a Mecca for emerging artists who can utilise the facilities while NDCWales is away on tour.

Looking ahead

Nurturing home-grown talent is a cause close to Ann's heart, and in 2014 she hopes her dream of developing an MA for dance in Cardiff will be realised through concerted work with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Part of this year's spring tour features a special show at Sherman Cymru which will showcase work that the company has been developing in the Dance House.

The programme includes Orient, choreographed by apprentice dancer Chris Scott and performed by 11 dancers in training, the Associates, as well as Chris Bruce's Olympic piece Dream, Virtual Descent by Eleesha Drennan and Purlieus by Lee Johnston and Joe Fletcher.

The tour will be bookended by this show and an event in November on the main stage at the Wales Millennium Centre, which offers a more international programme of dance.

Immersion in light

I spoke to company dancer Lee Johnston, who is presenting Purlieus, which fuses movement with animation and light, and is her first choreographed piece for the company's repertory.

It is the result of three-year collaboration with resident designer Joe Fletcher and borrows some of its method of thought from a poem by Conrad Aiken called Palimpsest: a Deceitful Portrait.

Lee was greatly inspired by the verse where Aiken writes:

"We move in crowds, we flow and talk together,
Seeing so many eyes and hands and faces,
So many mouths, and all with secret meanings,
Yet know so little of them; only seeing
The small bright circle of our consciousness,
Beyond which lies the dark."

Lee told me: "In Aiken's poem he touches on that idea that our consciousness and what we know is light to us whereas other people and their thoughts are darkness.

"This show is a jigsaw puzzle of light which becomes immersive as we try to reach out to the audience and make them feel involved."

The word purlieu has many meanings, from the boundary of a wood, the conceptual meaning of boundary, to a place one frequents and also a place where one can be free.

For Lee it was a perfect concept for the piece as they use confined areas of light and layers of gauze to trap the dancers and also to free them.

"The gauze walls represent the confines of our daily life and also the boundaries or habitual ways of thinking we have, which we might not even be aware of."

During the show Lee and Joe attempt to reach out to the audience by immersing them in light so the dancers can shed their boundaries.

Virtual Descent

Another piece, Virtual Descent, features the award-winning company dancer and house choreographer Eleesha Drennan and seeks out the essence of power and bravery that lies within the human body.

The dancers perform alongside a recording of a newly-commissioned percussion concerto, Heartland, from BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ resident composer Mark Bowden.

NDCWales will presents the four special 30th anniversary performances at Sherman Cymru from 27 February to 1 March 2013. For more details visit their website.

The production will blend movement, live music and interactive video projection, and promises to be their most ambitious yet. Its influences include shamanism, extra-sensory perception and Tai Chi, and is the result of extensive research into a variety of holistic areas influencing the soul and the spirit.

Beyond The Body will involve five dancers and two musicians and aims to take the audience on "a mystical journey through amazing digital landscapes that lie just beyond the body".

Both artists have dug deep for the performance and combined their interests in a variety of mystical fields to explore how the mind and body of the performers can be prepared holistically, using these influences, and how they can boost performance.

Beyond The Body will borrow from investigations the pair have done of a whole host of alternative perspectives on life.

These include: shamanism - which involves getting into an altered mind state; craniosacral energies - a therapy which works with the body's potential to self-heal; auras, or the electro-magnetic field surrounding the body; kirlian photography, which is high voltage contact photography; sacred movement; carnival and transpersonal psychology.

The germ of the idea for the project was born out of Tanja's sympathy for freelance dancers and the quiet spells they experience as the very nature of their work.

Because of this their bodies are not primed for the demands of performance and this means they can often injure themselves or not perform to their full potential.

She says: "Dancers in the freelance sector often have quiet periods between projects, and are expected to go straight in to the rehearsal room and work with a new team and new choreographer under the pressure of creating work within a short period of time.

"Even those who are lucky enough to go from one project to the next can find themselves and their bodies unprepared for a new type of movement, and they need time to adjust.

"Lack of time to acclimatise yourself into the project can lead to under-performing and a higher risk of injury.

"It was my plan to prepare the dancers with a gradually progressive programme of physical and mental training, carefully created to suit a temporary company of dancers.

"This allowed us to start the creative process with a strong team of dancers, ready to work together to get the best results."

John has worked with many dance companies over the years using cameras, computers and projectors.

This production will see him using on-stage cameras, including a Kinect sensor – usually found attached to an Xbox for controlling video games – to track the movement of the dancers and create video projections that respond to the choreography.

John says: "It's a lot of technology connected by a lot of cables, and it’s taking a long time to program everything, but it enables us to peek through the gap between worlds."

The production will be stripped bare to a white stage and will take place as the light of two projectors shifts from mystical symbols to ethereal landscapes and potent energy fields.

It will feature video footage shot by the award-winning cinematographer Bill Mitchell and music from the Bristol duo Eyebrow.

The world première of Beyond the Body will be performed at Taliesin in Swansea on 8 November, continuing on tour to Galeri in Caernarfon, The Metropole in Abertillery, The Riverfront in Newport and Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

For acclaimed choreographer Christopher Bruce, the opportunity to create such a piece on a national stage in both a home Olympic and jubilee year was too thrilling to miss.

He told me: "When I was asked to create the piece, even though it didn't have to be about the Olympics, I couldn't resist drawing inspiration from the athletes and past Olympic Games.

"I also found myself harking back to the street parties everybody held around the coronation in 1953 and thought I would try to recreate that sense and celebrate the jubilee as well.

"I had this idea in my mind for some reason about dancers and the way they have to study their training schedules.

"I find it interesting to look at mannerisms and the odd things dancers or athletes do in preparation for a dance class or before they are performing or about to compete."

Having alighted on a germ of an idea, Chris found the music he wanted to choreograph to: the last movement of Valses Nobles et Sentimentales by Ravel as well as Ravel's complete Bolero, and the last movement of a piece of music from Welsh composer Grace Williams.

Dream is littered with references to various Olympic sports such as volleyball, running, discus, shot put, javelin and archery, but also borrows from the worship of the sheer physical beauty of athletes common among Greek classical times.

Chris explains the inspiration behind the title, Dream, as "the dream or vision every dancer or athlete has at the very beginning".

"When I was training to be a dancer, I had that vision and it stays with you for your whole career. If it dies, you give up.

"With all those wonderful athletes, as with dancers, it starts with a dream of wanting to become that athlete or dancer and follows that dream to fruition, so from the daydream and through the training and hard work, the disappointments and successes."

The piece also makes reference to how short-lived the careers of professional dancers and athletes are, often "a life within a life", as Chris refers to it.

"Ending that career is then a kind of death and they have to adjust to it and find a second life to lead."

Fans of NDCWales were given a sneak preview of Dream while it was still developing at open rehearsals at the Dance House in Cardiff Bay in June.

Chris believes inviting the audience in at such an early part of the process helps build intimacy.

"It makes it that much more personal so it belongs to the audience as much as to the dancers."

He says he has been impressed by both the physicality and humour of the dancers at NDCWales and says that because they are trained in contemporary dance it helped hugely in how they responded to his ideas.

The piece premièred at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow before moving to the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff and then the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich earlier in the summer.

Chris says he has been stunned by the positive reaction to the piece and hopes audiences at the various venues in Wales enjoy it as much.

"It's lovely when it works but this piece has developed a life of its own and really grabbed people's imagination. It has moved people and if I can get that kind of quality into a piece that pleases me greatly."

Dream features alongside Itzik Galili's third new production for the company, The Grammar of Silence. The piece explores "the intimate poetry of words left unsaid".

NDC Wales' signature piece By Singing Light by US choreographer Stephen Petronio, which is based on the poetry of Dylan Thomas' In My Craft Or Sullen Art and an extract from his poem Lament, and influenced by the songs of Mansel Thomas, will also feature in the autumn tour.

NDCWales choreographer and dancer Eleesha Drennan will also present her latest award-winning work Whiskers.

All the dances have been made at NDCWales' Dance House in Cardiff Bay.

The tour has already visited Germany and is currently in China as part of the UK NOW festival, finishing in Shanghai on 21 September.

"I'm delighted that we are representing Wales on our international tour," said NDCWales artistic director Ann Sholem.

"I know that audiences will be swept away by the quality of our performances."

NDCWales' autumn tour launches in Llandudno at Venue Cymru on 2 October and visits venues in Wales and England. See the NDCwales website for details. Plus watch a clip of Dream and listen to Christopher Bruce talk about Dream.

Natya STEM Dance Kampni

NDCWales' relationship with STEM began in 2010, as choreographers from the two companies travelled on exchange trips to learn more about each other's work and to plan future collaborations.

This led to dancers from Wales visiting India for a tour in late November 2011, where they performed in Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi and also held dance masterclasses and discussions. Now NDCWales are hosting the return exchange.

I put a few questions to Roy Campbell-Moore, the co-founder and artistic associate of NDCWales, who has been heavily involved with STEM and has visited the company in India.

Can you explain a little about your involvement in bringing STEM to Wales, and developing the relationship between the two dance companies?

"I've been travelling to India since 1985 and have always wanted to develop links with artists there to share experiences and working practices. I was introduced to Madhu Nataraj, STEM's artistic director, through a friend and when the British Council offered travel grants in 2010 to go to India to open up collaborative opportunities, I jumped at the chance.

"We hit it off immediately both personally and artistically, as STEM follows the key philosophies of National Dance Company Wales in a passion for ideas in dance through artist-led projects. They also have a totality of vision that includes a wonderful range of work in the community in which they live, teaching and reaching out to young people in every way possible.

"Since 2010 we have had three Indian dancers come to Cardiff to study what we do and how we work and NDCWales has made three visits there, teaching, running a new summer school and in November doing a main company tour to Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi.

"In addition to their Wales tour, one of their dancers will come to Cardiff in September as a choreographer-in-residence working on a large youth arts project. Plans are already advanced for a second shared summer school in 2013 in Bangalore and we hope to return to India for a second tour in late 2013, performing in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore."

Will the relationship between the two companies remain ongoing, is it a long term project?

"Definitely. These relationships take years to develop and mature. Apart from the already mentioned projects over the next year or two, we are continually opening up several new contacts in India and I can see a wider network of relationships growing as time goes on. Somehow, the interest in new ideas and sharing them is just too exciting and I am sure many of our younger artists in particular will have their work transformed by these visits."

Can you explain a little more about the two productions, Vajra and Sanjog?

"Sanjog, the opening work of the evening, is an out and out display piece of choreography in the classical Kathak style that allows the dancers to show off their virtuosity of technique. It's a short but snappy and sharply edged piece of work that allows audiences to feel secure in the hands of a group of talented dancers.

"Vajra is a fully developed dance-theatre work that delves into the abstract concepts of diamond and lightning seen through an Indian dance aesthetic. With an extravagant use of martial arts techniques, contemporary and kathak dance, Vajra is a lovely work that is original and beautifully performed by six dancers of the company."

There seems to be a flourishing artistic union between Wales and India at the moment. Why do you think this is, and what can artists from the two countries gain from working with each other?

"Simple... it's called investment! If you invest in artists, then they get on with it and make things happen. It's also a sign that Wales is now reaching out to new borders with strategic funding in place to open up new connections and relationships with the long-term backing to make it meaningful. It's to everyone's benefit in both countries.

"India and Wales has much to learn from each other and to share: techniques, practices, beliefs and philosophies benefit everyone all round and the exchange of new ideas, whether cultural, scientific, personal and organisations are critical to a healthy state of mind and well-being. In the end it's up to the artists to make the gains meaningful, but that is the skill of the artist... we wait to see what they all come up with."

STEM dancers during a performance

The tour, which is supported by Welsh Government, British Council and Wales Arts International, will visit:

• 30 April: Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon - 01874 611622 / theatrbrycheiniog.co.uk
• 3 May: Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea - 01792 60 20 60 / taliesinartscentre.co.uk
• 5 May: Dance House, Cardiff - 029 2063 6464 / wmc.org.uk
• 9 May: Muni Arts Centre, Pontypridd - 08000 147 111 / rct-arts.co.uk
• 11 May: Theatr Stiwt, Wrexham - 01978 841 300 / stiwt.co.uk

For further information visit ndcwales.co.uk.

Michikazu Matsune and David Subal during a performance of Store in Bangor. Photo: Dewi Glyn Jones

After being invited into the shop at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre, audience members will be offered a menu from which they can choose one of any 60 mini performances - costing from as little as 50p per performance.

Artists Michikazu Matsune and David Subal perform especially for each shopper, and during their performances they often create a physical product which the customer can take away with them.

Store has previously been performed as far afield as Vienna, Paris, Kyoto and New York.

Llanrwst-based company Migrations, who have been organising contemporary dance and performance events in north Wales since 2004, bring the production to Wrexham in collaboration with Wrexham County Council.

Migrations director Karine Decorne said, "Store is such a fantastic project, we're thrilled to be able to bring it to Wrexham.

"The performances are great and really affordable too, so everyone should get a bargain at Store. All are welcome to come and browse - it's a completely new way to experience performance."

Matsune during a performance of Store in Bangor. Photo: Iwan Pritchard

Store opens at 10am on Wednesday 25 April and will run until to Saturday 28 April, and is open from 10am-4pm each day. For more information visit the Migrations website.

Josef Perou performing Black Milk by Ohad Naharin. Photo: Roy Campbell-Moore

The varied programme will see 12 dancers from across the globe bringing their work to life.

Kicking off with a performance at the Wales Millennium Centre's Donald Gordon Theatre on 26 January, the line-up includes two pieces created by the acclaimed Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin.

His first, B/olero, set to the music of the same name by Ravel, features two female dancers and is sharply cut so their motions appear to be in competition with one another at times.

His second, Black Milk, involves five male dancers, displaying typical traits of tribal behaviour and almost ritualistic warrior actions.

Naharin, artistic director of dance company Batsheva, is famous for pioneering his own language of movement called Gaga, which predates the international pop phenomenon of the same name. Gaga emphasises exploring sensation and availability for movement to create "organic flows of energy" and has attracted a wide following in the international dance community.

Also on the bill is a piece entitled The Grammar Of Silence by the award winning Netherlands-based Itzik Galili.

Galili has directed two pieces previously for the National Dance Company Wales. This powerful new work builds on the themes of his last contribution, Exile Within, and aims to push dancers to their limits while "exploring the intimate poetry of words left unsaid".

The Olivier Award nominee has produced a catalogue of work for Rambert Dance Company, the English National Ballet and Netherlands Dance Theatre.

Dancers Neus Gil Cortés and Eleesha Drennan run through The Grammar of Silence, watched by Itzik Galili's assistant Helena Volkov. Photo: Roy Campbell-Moore

National Dance Company Wales' own choreographer Eleesha Drennan has created a new piece called Phantoms Of Us. The work is for eight dancers and is the first Drennan has made for the full company repertoire. She has collaborated with Wales-based visual artist Sue Williams to create the costumes and visual elements for the piece.

The idea behind it draws on Drennan's own dreams and the idea of a human struggle while trying to move forward in life and achieve individuality. Some of the themes that emerged were the power of the group and consensus versus the individual.

Williams created costumes that resemble a second layer of skin and the tight, body-coloured costumes aim to "give bodily form to androgynous beings who reach out beyond superficial identity to strip away layers of human vulnerability and search for individuality".

The tour opens on 26 January, before taking to the road with dates across Wales, England, Jersey and Ireland.

In Wales it moves to the Aberystwyth Arts Centre on 9 and 10 February, Swansea's Taliesin Arts Centre on 23 and 24 February, Milford Haven's Torch Theatre on 14 March and Mold's Clwyd Theatr Cymru on 28 and 29 March.

A special event during the tour will be at British Dance Edition 2012 when the company performs By Singing Light by Stephen Petronio accompanied by BBC National Chorus of Wales at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre.

Artistic Director Ann Sholem said: "Whether you're a seasoned National Dance Company Wales fan or have never seen a contemporary dance show before, we look forward to welcoming you and demonstrating just why we have become a leading name on the international dance stage."

After the spring tour the company will take part in a new commission from world-renowned choreographer Christopher Bruce for Dance GB.

National Dance Company Wales will join Scottish Ballet and English National Ballet in a celebration of dance inspired by the 2012 London Olympics, performing in Glasgow, Cardiff and London in the summer.

For tickets and dates visit www.ndcwales.co.uk.