Dancing with a digger

9:11am Sunday 12th October 2008

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Not since Arnold Schwarzenegger shared the screen with Edward Furlong in Terminator 2 have man and machine been portrayed together so eloquently.

More than 350 people gathered in a playing field at The Cherwell School, Summetown, Oxford, to watch the first of two very unusual performances — a love duet between a man and a 13-tonne Komatsu mechanical digger.

People of all ages circled around the makeshift arena in anticipation of the strange spectacle, before the digger finally emerged from behind two industrial containers to the accompanyment of some tear-jerking opera at full volume.

With blacked out windows, the yellow machine took on a personality of its own as it swung and swirled its giant arm and bucket, often narrowly missing chopping off professional dancer Philippe Priasso's head.

Frenchman Mr Priasso — dressed in a white shirt and black trousers — danced gracefully with the digger for more than 20 minutes.

The show, by Transports Exceptionnels, had been organised by Oxford Playhouse as part of its Playhouse Plays Out series of events.

Playhouse director Michelle Dickson explained: "Ever since I saw the show last year I've wanted to bring it to Oxford.

"It's great. It's the fourth time I've seen it and it still makes me feel quite emotional.

"It was lovely to do a free event as well."

Pensioner Penny Clark, from Headington, Oxford, said: "It was brilliant.

"He used the whole vehicle — he was like an Olympic athlete — he was very strong and very brave."

"I'd never seen anything like that before."

Oxford University student Miranda Laurence, 23, from Cowley, said: "He didn't hesitate to be over-dramatic.

"The show didn't try to be gimmicky. It was very different."

Jonas Torrance, 43, from Oxford, added: "It was great.

"It was really passionate music and he was amazingly strong."

Mr Priasso said he had performed the dance more than 300 times in cities across the world, including New York, Johannesburg and Seoul.

He said: "It's always amazing to see people's reaction.

"I really enjoyed the show. The atmosphere was great.

"Oxford is a mythical place."

The digger was driven by Eric Lamy.