They are used to interpreting the visions of others through their dance steps, but now five dancers from National Dance Company Wales are taking on the guise of creator for a new project.
Their original choreography work will be shown as part of this summer's Alternative Routes, a collaboration between NDCWales and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
One of those who has devised new work for the showcase is apprentice dancer Chris Scott, who is being taken on full time by the company next year.
Chris Scott. All photographs by Roy Campbell-Moore
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 Scott in Noces by Angelin Preljocaj
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.
A performance of Purlieus by Lee Johnston and Joe Fletcher
"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.
