I am now obsessed with the technology of the body. I think it's the most technologically literate thing that we have.

Choreography and creativity - it's my matrix; let's see where we can move.

I think it's the responsibility of a major opera house not only to cultivate debate and get people thinking, but also to be interfaced with things that challenge them. To challenge its audience and not just deliver things that they know, even though some of those things are wonderful.

For me, choreography is a process of physical thinking. It's very much in mind as well as in body.

Unlike a lot of choreographers, I don't always start with the music. I often start with a visual artist, and then find music that fits the world of that visual artist.

I like to practise. With every new piece, you make mistakes and you learn. So it's important to get on and have another go.

I heard Joby Talbot's Hovercraft piece for orchestra and felt its immediate physical impact - visceral, unsettling, hungry and direct. These short five minutes became our keystone to unlocking a strangely seductive score that tensions the aggressive force of the White Stripes with the enigmatic beauty of Talbot's own compositions.