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After studying Geology at Oxford University in England, Thomas Noone went on to train as a dancer at Rambert School, London. After graduating, he started his professional career with Djazzex Dance Company in Den Haag, Holland followed by a period working with Itzik Galili and Reflex Dance, also in the Netherlands. After moving to Belgium to work for Frederic Flamand at Charleroi Danses/Plan K, he came to Barcelona where he danced with Rami Levi, Compañia Metros, (Ramon Oller), and Compañia Gelabert-Azzopardi.
Whilst working as a dancer in Barcelona he created the piece Still (Ricard Moragas Prize, 1999) Tread (XIII Certamen de Madrid 3rd Prize) before forming his own group: Thomas Noone Dance, and has since created Credo, Loner, Maktub, Triptych, Fútil, Crush-Crease, Mur, Four and Tort collaborating with festivals and theatres such as the Grec Festival Barcelona or the Mercat de les Flors.
Working for other companies, Thomas Noone has created Hurt for Norrdans (March 2008) Three Futile Stories, an adaptaion of his piece Fútil for six dancers of Dantzaz, Biarritz Ballet Junior 3), Before, a duet for Sol Pico and himself as part of the T6 Dance project of the Nacional Theatre of Catalunya and Buit for the Centro Coreografico de Valencia. In 2002 he also remounted the piece Loner on the Ballet Municipal de Asunción in Paraguay.
As a dancer with DV8, Rob Tannion met Liam Steel and together founded Stan Won't Dance in 2004 as a result of their shared vision of expanding the boundaries of physical theatre, new writing and visual imagery by creating theatre pieces that fully integrate movement, design, music and text.
The company's first production Sinner, premiered in the UK in 2004 to great critical and public acclaim. It went on to tour the UK, USA and Canada, gaining a nomination for the prestigious Toronto Tapa Dora Award. Revelations, their second production toured during 2006 and through Stan Won’t Dance’s current production Babel the company has a huge youth following.
Alongside his work with Stan Won't Dance, Rob Tannion has maintained his influential profile. In 2005/6, he was Associate Choreographer for the original stage version of Lord of the Rings, which premiered in Toronto in March 2006 and won a 2006 Dora Maver Moore Award for Choreography. He first collaborated with Peter Darling in the casting process for Billy Elliot the Musical in 2003/4.
As a performer, collaborations have included projects with Austrian cross-media artist Klaus Obermaier, DV8 Physical Theatre 1995-2000 (Enter Achilles, Bound to Please, The Happiest Day of My Life, The Cost of Living), Complicité 2002-04 (Noise of Time, Strange Poetry) and Russell Maliphant Company 1998 and 2001 (Critical Mass).
Take Action : Stunt Dancing director/choreo/performer (dance/martial arts, 2005, Royal Festival Hall, London); Apparition co-choreographer/performer (dance/new media, 2004, international tour 2004/5) with Klaus Obermaier Intent choreographer/performer (2003, Purcell Room, RFH, London); Fetish : Stories director/choreographer (2003, City Hall Theatre, Hong Kong); Dinner (2002, National Palace of Culture, Sofia).
Stig of the Dump (BBC 2001, winner International Emmy); Resident Evil (feature 2001); Function at the Junction (short 2001); flex (Chris Cunningham short, 2000); The Truth (Ricochet Dance Company, 2003); Enter Achilles (DV8 Physical Theatre 1996, winner International Emmy).