Dance Review:

The Hofesh Shechter Company, on its first visit to Israel, provided an evening of pleasure and great enjoyment.

By ORA BRAFMAN
dance review 88 (photo credit: )
dance review 88
(photo credit: )
Hofesh Shechter Company (UK) Tel Aviv Dance, TAPAC November 11 The Hofesh Shechter Company, on its first visit to Israel, provided an evening of pleasure and great enjoyment. Shechter, a London-based former Batsheva dancer, is endowed with talent. The evening opened with "Uprising," a bold and powerful creation for seven male dancers, set to percussion music by Shechter. First, they step behind the blazing lights, come forward with long steps and stand on one foot like seven legendary warriors. The next minute, they are gone. Things move fast, the space changing continuously, and dancers come and go. Often they are bent down or surf on stage in diversified ways, and the movements are simply mesmerizing. The title of the piece is indicative of its content. Dance is very physical, with harsh lighting, throbbing bits and, together with the second piece, is quite political. Shechter builds the final scene as an active pyramidal composition, much like Delacroix's masterpiece "Liberty guides the people" - red flag and all. The 26-minute "Uprising" is wonderfully concise, well paced, with a wealth of dynamic compositions, energies and spatial formations and shifting focal points. It's a strong piece and a captivating calling card. "In Your Rooms" (40 min.), accompanied by five musicians, is structured like a chain of transitory thoughts and statements. Its first half held strong, but it lost some direction toward the end. Both works bear distinctive artistic touches and reveal the wealth of Shechter's choreographic palette. The eye inevitably spots the points of similarity between him and Ohad Naharin when it comes to body perception and some geometric formations and even specific moves. But the multitalented Shechter, without a doubt, has found his own footing and raised it to great heights.