The buzz in LA today is unquestionably Hofesh Shechter Dance Company, who delivered a stellar performance tonight at Royce Hall.
There are transformative performances that represent those truly immersive moments when something brilliant, inventive and relevant unfolds onstage. In dance for me it was Sankai Juku, but I felt the same with Brain Eno, Talking Heads, and early Cirque du Soliel. It’s pioneering a new vocabulary that turns my emotions on. Hofesh Shechter speaks a visual language that connects on a visceral level, with non-stop tension that hammers the audience with smart metaphors that never stop hitting
Tonight’s show at UCLA Royce Hall featured “Uprising” and “In your rooms” both acclaimed works the showcase Shechter’s recognizable and engaging choreography. But the performance was more than the sum of the movements of his talented company– the intersection of sound, timing, lighting and concepts collide to confront the audience with a full assault on the senses.
Drawing on combat poses that made me think of Capoeira or Krav Maga (Shechter is born Israeli) the company pushes way beyond them into a totally different realm. There’s a lot of hunched, low, syrupy sequences that somehow transport dancer across the stage in what feels neanderthal or ape, underscoring the primitivity of much of the content. But it’s the energy, unending energy, that brings the audience into his grasp without release until the lights change.
Lighting designer Lee Curran certainly deserves special mention for a flawless conversion of the Royce stage into Shechter’s arena… using a super-smart yet simple arrangement of well controlled lights. I think the lighting effects are central to the ability of this work to resonate, and it was executed perfectly.
Both works leverage a gritty soundscape composed by Shechter. I think there’s homage to Butoh and the great Ushio Amagatsu, particularly for the use of white noise, but with a more western twist. Beat plays into it more, and the use of strings make for a very very very interesting sound. The haunting images of the live orchestra for “In your rooms” positioned as if floating above the dancers was mesmerizing. The hypnotic heartbeat sounds is something I want to hear more of.
We are looking forward to seeing more of Hofesh Shechter in LA. Please come back soon.
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Excited to see his return to Royce hall tonite. I’m in the audience now!