Controlled chaos

Rise up and rebel with choreographer Hofesh Shechter.

By ORI J. LENKINSKI
Hofesh Shechter 88 224 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Hofesh Shechter 88 224
(photo credit: Courtesy)
'I'm a shy person by nature,"choreographer Hofesh Shechter told me after a recent press conference in Tel Aviv. "I tend to hide. Choreography is a job where you aren't in the front of your art. Like writing, however, it's very revealing." By the looks of him, it is hard to believe that Shechter is an introvert. He is tall, handsome and effortlessly charismatic. During the hour or so that we sat together in the Suzanne Dellal Center's lobby, Shechter turned many dancers' heads. His London-based company will visit in November as part of the International Tel Aviv Dance Festival. In two venues, the Suzanne Dellal Center and Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, the festival will host a number of internationally renowned companies. It started this week with performances by Cedar Lake Dance of New York City and the long awaited choreographic return of Barak Marshall from Los Angeles. In the coming months, companies from England, Spain, Canada, the US and Mexico will participate. Beyond the stage, it will offer a series of master classes for professional dancers with the guest artists. Shechter's upcoming visit to the beautiful stage of TAPAC has already begun to create a palpable buzz among local dance lovers. A native of Jerusalem, he spent three and a half years dancing with Batsheva Dance Company before moving to London in 2002. While dancing with Batsheva, Shechter trained as a musician, a passion he continued to pursue in Paris, where he lived for a time after leaving Israel. "Leaving brought about a period where I was lost. I was drumming in a rock band called the Human Beings and the members of the band wanted to go to London. I wanted to change atmosphere, any place seemed fine." After settling down, Shechter began dancing with Jasmin Vardimon Company, where he remained for two years. He debuted as a choreographer with a piece called Fragments, for which he drew on his musical background to create an original score. The piece toured extensively and won him a place in the spotlight as a risk-taking young choreographer. Shortly after he was commissioned by the Place in London to create a new work, Cult. Shechter's bold physicality and striking composition won audiences over. Out of five contending pieces, Cult won the Audience Choice Award. As a result of his success, the Place selected Shechter to be one of its associate artists. During his two-year residency, he created Uprising. This work, which is danced by seven fierce men, including Shechter himself, explores the notions of alienation and mob mentality. While it is not explicitly political, throbbing music and foggy lighting contribute to an anarchistic feel. "I felt that I am always struggling. I wanted to do something more fluid. To let it out. I thought it would be easier to work just with men. Of course I was mistaken," confessed Shechter. In 2007, three major British dance venues, Sadler's Wells, the Place and Southbank Center, joined forces (an incredibly rare occurrence) to produce Shechter's most recent piece, In Your Rooms. The creation keeps with Shechter's previous works in its physicality, while establishing a unique intimacy. Shechter expressed a particular fondness for In Your Rooms: "This piece is close to my heart. It was very difficult to conceive. I got to take a part of myself out." In the work, six men and five women dance alongside five live musicians to a score created by Shechter in collaboration with musical arranger Nell Catchpole. In Your Rooms and Uprising are the two pieces that will be shown during the company's visit. Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Shechter's work is his ability to compose controlled chaos. In In Your Rooms and Uprising, seemingly unconnected threads of movement suddenly merge into complex patterns. When asked about his influences, Shechter immediately mentioned One Flat Thing by William Forsythe. "I felt the piece running in my blood. This amazing, chaotic thing that makes you feel something coherent." Harnessing this rush, Shechter went on to experiment with mayhem in his own work. "Things fall apart on stage and come together again. It's really exciting to me. How far you can choreograph a complex situation," he said. In addition to Forsythe, Shechter draws from many sources for inspiration when creating. "I grew up as a dancer in Batsheva. Ohad Naharin has affected the way I see dance. It's in my cell level. While I was dancing there, I had the chance to work with Wim Vandekeybus. His wild energy was a real eye opener for me. And of course the images of Pina Bausch influence me. I feel that when I create I dip into this huge pot of information. But if you ask me which choreographers most influenced me, I have to include Stanley Kubrick and Charlie Kaufman. Their work is a kind of choreography. I feel choreography is cinematic." Shechter continues to set pieces for other companies including CedeCe of Portugal and Hellenic Dance Company of Athens. This year, he will create a new work for Bern Ballet. At home in London, Shechter is very selective about the performers he chooses to work with. Because of the level to which he is involved in each of his pieces, he expressed a need to feel comfortable with each dancer in his company. "In my dancers I look for a soft and warm quality. Very human. Very simple. Because they have to be able to convey real emotions. And of course they have to be skillful, kick-ass dancers," he said. Talent aside, establishing a company in a city as expensive as London is a challenging feat. "In the beginning I didn't pay myself," said Shechter. "I was invited to do pieces for other companies. That was my bread and butter." At 33, Shechter has reached heights that many older and more experienced creators can only dream of. The company consists of 11 dancers, who work year round with Shechter, performing about 80 times a year. "Now the company budget is about NIS 2 million a year," he said. In the past few months, Shechter and company have performed at some of the most prestigious dance festivals in Europe and America. As for future aspirations, Shechter wants to keep his options open. "I never felt that dance was the love of my life. I'm passing through. I'm very committed to it, or you can say obsessed with it at the moment. But I can't define myself as a choreographer." Whether he decides to continue choreographing or moves on to another field, Shechter's contribution to the dance world is one that cannot be overlooked. "All this success can easily disappear. Parameters are unknown and I'm not putting one egg in that basket. It's a dangerous place. But I'm enjoying it." Hofesh Shechter will be at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center on November 11 and 12. For tickets: www.israel-opera.co.il.