Notes on Hofesh Shechter Company

Notes on Hofesh Shechter Company
“The new audience wants work that sets its brain racing, not just its heart, and it’s
because choreographers like Shechter are meeting this demand that the future is theirs.”
Luke Jennings, The Observer, April 2008
Credit: Andrew Lang, Matthew Andrews, Pini Snir, Dee Conway, Ben Rudick, Tom Medwell, Gabriele Zucca
Contents
Introduction 2
Hofesh Shechter 3
Political Mother
The Art of Not Looking Back
4
In your rooms
8
Uprising
10
2012 Tour Dates
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Introduction
Hofesh Shechter Company aim to make dance, art and music accessible to new
audiences through the production of truly excellent multi-disciplinary work that
challenges preconceptions of live performance and inspires young people to invest their
time and energy in the arts.
“I aim to create one piece of art, a total experience, an egoless relationship
between music and the arts” Hofesh Shechter
Hofesh Shechter has become in the space of eight years “dance’s most explosive
choreographer” (Luke Jennings, The Observer, January 2012) via a route supported by
the country’s major contemporary powerhouses. His work is well placed to engage young
people and has been described as “effortlessly hip, overflowing with energy and ideas
and darkly cinematic” (Mark Monahan, The Telegraph May 2010). This view is supported
by Youth Dance England’s decision to commission Hofesh to create a new work on a
company of young people from across the UK in July 2012. Hofesh Shechter himself is
socially conscious and believes in using his company and his work to make the world a
better place. He was inspired to dance as a young boy and believes that exposure to
dance and cultural activity can play a pivotal role in a young person’s development. The
company’s work is therefore supported by a participation programme which seeks to
create opportunities and support teachers in their exploration of Hofesh Shechter’s work.
“The energetic quality and technical demands of the movement style is
accessible to all students.”
Andrea Davis, Director of Dance, the BRIT school of Performing Arts and Technology
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Hofesh graduated from the Jerusalem Academy for Dance and
Music before moving to Tel Aviv to join the world renowned
Batsheva Dance Company, where he worked with Artistic
Director Ohad Naharin and other choreographers including
Wim Vandekeybus, Paul Selwyn-Norton, Tero Saarinen, and
Inbal Pinto. Hofesh began drum and percussion studies whilst
in Tel Aviv and con­tinued later in Paris at the Agostiny College
of Rhythm.
Subsequently, he began experimenting and developing his own music while participating in
various projects in Europe involving dance, theatre and body-percussion. In 2002 Hofesh arrived
in the UK.
His choreographic debut, Fragments, for which he also created the score, toured both nation­ally
and internationally to Finland, Italy, Portugal, Korea, and Poland, where the piece won first place
in the 3rd Serge Diaghilev choreography competition.
In 2004 Hofesh was commissioned by The Place Prize to create the sextet, Cult. The work was
one of five selected finalists and was announced winner of the Audience Choice Award. From
2004 to 2006 Hofesh was Associate Art­ist at The Place and was commissioned by the
Robin Howard Foundation to create Uprising, his ever-popular work for seven men.
In 2007 London’s three major dance venues, The Place, Southbank Centre and Sadler’s Wells,
collaborated on a unique producing venture, commissioning Hofesh to create In your rooms
which was presented at all three venues in 2007 and culminated in sell-out shows at Sadler’s
Wells Theatre. In your rooms was nominated for a South Bank Show Award and won the Critics
Circle Award for Best Choreography (modern) in 2008.
In 2009 Hofesh was commissioned by Brighton Festival to create The Art of Not Looking Back
which was inspired by and made for six female dancers. An outdoor version of the work was
presented at Latitude Festival later that year. In May 2010 his first full length work Political
Mother premiered at the Brighton Festival and subsequently won the Theatre Awards UK award
for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2011.
Hofesh has been commissioned in the UK by Bare Bones Dance Company, Edge and Verve the
postgraduate companies of London Contemporary Dance School and Northern School of
Con­temporary Dance respectively, StopGAP Dance Company, Scottish Dance Theatre, CandoCo
and Dance United. Internationally Hofesh has made new work and remounted works on Ballet
CeDeCe (Portugal), Hellenic Dance Company (Greece), Bern Ballett (Switzerland), Skanes
Dansteater (Sweden), Carte Blanche Dance Company (Norway) and Cedar Lake Contemporary
Ballet (New York).
Hofesh worked as choreographer at The Royal Court Theatre for Motortown by Simon Stephens
(2006), and on The Arsonists (2007). Hofesh was choreographer for the National Theatre’s award
winning production of Saint Joan (2007) directed by Marianne Elliot and starring Anne Marie Duff.
Hofesh also choreographed the hit dance sequence ‘Maxxie’s Dance’ for the opening of the
second series of Channel 4’s popular drama Skins.
Hofesh is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells and Hofesh Shechter Company is Resident Company
at the Brighton Dome.
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Hofesh Shechter
Hofesh Shechter, recognised as both a choreographer and
composer, is one of the UK’s most exciting artists.
Political Mother
Choreographed: 2010
(A longer version for a live band of over 20 musicians alongside a cast of 16 dancers was created
in 2011: Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut.)
“The idea of a connection between something political and something warm
and cosy seemed impossible. But also very interesting to me. The words
political and mother…the title made me smile. These two conflicting worlds.”
Hofesh Shechter in conversation with Lucy Moelwyn-Hughes
Political Mother brims with Shechter’s emotional and gritty complexity as an ever more
surreal chain of images makes our existence seem more impossible than the events taking
place in front of us. A Chinese puzzle of encounters leads to amusing, sad and shocking
events that
confuse our values and challenge our perceptions of what is normal.
Political
Mother is performed by 10 dancers of the Hofesh Shechter Company and accompanied by
Shechter’s cinematic score performed by a band of live musicians.
Political Mother promises to draw audiences back to Shechter’s world whose astonishing
unisons, percussive grooves and a raw and honest physicality mark him as one of the most
exciting artists to emerge in recent years.
“Hofesh Shechter’s first ever full-length work is an audiovisual marvel”
Mark Monahan, The Telegraph, May 21, 2010
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Political Mother
Credit: Gabriele Zucca and Simona Boccedi
SUITABILITY FOR GCSE/A LEVEL STUDY
Hofesh’s signature style is evident in this work with recurring motifs, enveloping yet dynamic and
punchy movement material, formations which deconstruct and then re-establish and a sense of
controlled abandon.
Within this piece, his first full length work, Hofesh’s use of both score, choreography, staging
and cast are utilised to communicate what feels like a deeper, more complex narrative than ever
before.
As a composer/choreographer, music and dance for Hofesh Shechter are intrinsically linked and
within this work Hofesh uses each musician as he would a dancer - as part of both the narrative
and the aesthetic. Students can therefore explore not just the relationship between the music
and dance or indeed Hofesh’s musical influences but also the relationship between dancers and
musicians and their importance within the sum of parts.
Cultural references are evident both within the choice of movement, costume and subject matter
giving students plenty of material in which to explore characterisation, the relationship between
physical stage setting and dance content and the choreographer’s origins and influences.
Education pack is available.
CREDITS
Choreography and Music: Hofesh Shechter
Musical Collaborators: Nell Catchpole, Yaron Engler
Percussion Arrangements: Hofesh Shechter and Yaron Engler
Additional Music: J.S Bach, Cliff Martinez, Sergio Mendes, Joni Mitchell, Verdi
Lighting Design: Lee Curran
Costume Design: Merle Hensel
Political Mother is commissioned by Brighton Dome and Festival, Sadler’s Wells and Movimentos – Festwochen der
Autostadt in Wolfsburg. The work is co-commissioned by Biennale de la Danse de Lyon, Théâtre de la Ville,
Romaeuropa and Mercat de les Flors.
Produced in collaboration with Theatre Royal, Plymouth and with support from DanceXchange, Birmingham.
The score for Political Mother was created in collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and
barbicanbite09; with research supported by Jerwood Studio at Sadler’s Wells.
Collaboration with FOS supported by Outset.
The use of Solaris by Cliff Martinez is by arrangement with EMI Music Publishing Limited
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The Art Of Not Looking Back
Choreographed: 2009
“When you have broken structure, no content can fill up. No matter how hard
you try. You can never fill it up. It’s like having a bucket with a...with a hole”
Hofesh Shechter, text excerpt from The Art of Not Looking Back
The Art of Not Looking Back is a work by Shechter that is inspired by, and made for, the
world-class female dancers of the Hofesh Shechter Company.
Physical, complex and unrelenting Shechter’s favoured theme of ‘man against the world’ is
presented in a different and entrancing light.
“Just when you think you’ve got the measure of Hofesh Shechter he throws
something unexpected and apt into the mix”
Debra Craine, The Times, May 18, 2009
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The Art Of Not Looking Back
Credit: Dee Conway
SUITABILITY FOR GCSE/A LEVEL STUDY
The Art of Not Looking Back transfers Hofesh’s style and approaches onto his company of
female dancers. The piece offers material for discussion regarding the use of spoken word and
vocal sounds to give context to the choreographic vocabulary. The movement juxtaposes lyrical,
melting, folding movement with bursts of fractured and anguished material accompanied by a
rhythmic score and boxed in by a tight frame of white walls. Cultural references can be found in
both the music and movement and choreographic devices such as unison popping out of seeming
chaos, the manipulation of dancers within constantly evolving and unlikely formations, repetition
and motifs are utilised.
CREDITS
Additional music:
Excerpt from ‘LITANY IV’ from ‘SIX LITANIES FOR HELIOGABALUS’
Composed by John Zorn, performed by Mike Patton, solo voice
Used with the kind permission of Tzadik recordings
Excerpts from ‘Concerto in D minor for 2 violins (BWV 1043)’ by J.S.Bach
featuring Lara and Scott St. John are made possible courtesy of Ancalagon Records. (www.larastjohn.com)
‘Fragile Wind’ composed by Nitin Sawhney
Lighting Design: Lee Curran
Costume Design: Becs Andrews
Commissioned by: Brighton Festival 2009. Restaged in 2011 with support from DanceXchange.
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In your rooms
Choreographed: 2007
“It’s about miscommunication, a problem we all share. Our pathetic efforts to
communicate.”
Hofesh Shechter, 2007
In your rooms brims with gritty physicality and is at times provocative, political and deeply
personal, presenting a society that is scarily alienating and yet shockingly familiar. Nine
dancers reveal shifting motives, lack of control and vulnerabilities through intricate,
touching encounters.
The work features an original score, created by Shechter in collaboration with
Nell Catchpole (The Gogmagogs). Performed live Shechter’s hauntingly beautiful score
envelops the stage as the music and dance combine forces to create a truly magical
atmosphere.
“The work is choreographed with such verve that its effect is almost ecstatic…
it is an arrestingly powerful piece” Judith Mackrell, The Guardian, October 2007
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In your rooms
Credit: Ben Rudick
SUITABILITY FOR GCSE/A LEVEL STUDY
This is an interesting work to use as a starting point for the exploration and analysis of a number
of themes which reappear within Hofesh’s catalogue of works. The importance of the
relation­ship between music and dance is made apparent by the elevation of the orchestra pit and
the subsequent incorporation of the band into the set design. Hofesh portrays this relationship
literally, with a line of dancers physically beating an imaginary drum in time to the score as well as
subtly by the change in tempo of both music and movement to signify a change in atmosphere. A
voiced soundtrack, a device we see again in The Art of Not Looking Back, is utilised here and the
momentous significance of the words juxtaposed with the insight we see of Hofesh’s humour can
be discussed by students as to its effectiveness as a technique for the establishment of
atmosphere, communication of subject matter and revelation of the artist behind the work. Motifs
we see established within Uprising and Political Mother we can occasionally glimpse here and the
use of an almost pedestrian, understated and calm movement vocabulary is used to great effect
– a technique we see reappear as we study Hofesh’s style in greater detail. Lighting... and its
absence... play a leading role in the depiction of drama as the blackened stage is used almost as
if it were a velvet curtain with figures emerging from the darkness picked out by beams of light.
Hofesh manipulates his dancers within the space via formations which can snap from chaotic to
ordered within seconds and unison, a choreographic device he has become renowned for, is used
to dramatic effect.
Education pack is available
CREDITS
The soundtrack features a sample from ‘Takk...’ by Sigur Ros used with kind permission.
Musical Director: Nell Catchpole
Lighting Design: Lee Curran
Costume Design: Elizabeth Barker
In your rooms is commissioned by The Place, Southbank Centre and Sadler’s Wells, and supported by Arts Council
England. The work is co-commissioned by The Point, Eastleigh, Dance South West, Gloucestershire Dance and Take
Art Somerset.
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Uprising
Choreographed: 2006
“What I like about the piece, and what I feel when I see it, is a certain quality of
loneliness inside a huge, beautifully functioning machine. They’re all together,
and everybody knows exactly what they’re doing, but they’re all alone. I really
like this very isolated feeling.”
Hofesh Shechter, in conversation with Donald Hutera, 2007
In Uprising seven men emerge from the shadows to bombard the stage with furious
energy, bonding and sparring, making up and falling out. This highly charged work, set to a
throbbing percussive score also composed by Shechter himself, leaves audiences buzzing.
“Pure Pleasure” The Herald, 2006
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Uprising
Credit: Ben Rudick and Chris Taylor
SUITABILITY FOR GCSE/A LEVEL STUDY
A work for seven men, Uprising explores “boys’ energy, boys’ mentality, boys’ behaviour…mainly
with the idea of playing and fighting…of liking to play and to fight….of how fun it is to be part of a
war (Hofesh Shechter in conversation for The Culture Show, 2008). Lighting design is particularly
key to the impact of this work as men emerge from the shadows, the audience part blinded by
powerful beams, to create a static image of masculine silhouettes. Choreographic devices such
as stillness, unison and collage are used and motifs established such as the speedy, animalistic
traversing crawl and a circular run with arms outstretched – movements which have become
synonymous with Hofesh’s name. Repetition is used not just in the movement vocabulary but also
in the musical phrasing and the pounding, slightly ominous, cinematic score reinforces the uneasy
feeling that all is perhaps not well and relationships may go from friendly to antagonistic in the
beat of a drum. Indeed the relationship between the dancers offers much material for exploration
in this work – Hofesh uses contact partnering only rarely and this is one of his pieces where it
takes a significant role with dancers pushing, catching and manipulating eachother in sometimes
fond, sometimes tense, sometimes aggressive encounters.
Education pack is available.
CREDITS
Additional music: Vex’d
Lighting Design: Lee Curran
Uprising was made possible with support from the Robin Howard Foundation Commission 2006, Arts Council England
and Jerwood Changing Stages Choreolab at DanceXchange.
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Workshops
Workshops can be developed for schools, colleges, venues, dance agencies, youth and
community groups and are based on Hofesh Shechter’s distinctive and urban choreography. Led by members of the company and drawing on Shechter’s own specific technique,
workshop leaders will help participants find their way into this young company’s edgy style.
Workshops consist of a warm-up class to introduce the movement style and prepare the
body for the work, followed by repertory based sessions where participants will learn sections of the work featured in the current tour. We can also develop content which explores
Hofesh’s musical composition skills and the importance of rhythmic concepts.
- Suitable for young people aged 13 +
- Can be developed for a range of ages and experiences, no previous dance experience is
required
- Maximum 20 participants unless agreed with the company
- Your organisation is responsible for health and safety, first aid and discipline in the studio
CONTACT
[email protected]
020 3142 6823
www.hofesh.co.uk
Hofesh Shechter Company is supported by Arts Council England, Quercus Trust and the
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and is Resident Company at Brighton Dome.
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