Known as being one of the world’s most innovative working choreographers, Hofesh Shechter has wasted no time in returning to a once again fully up-and-running Sadler's Wells, with a revival of his 2016 widely acclaimed piece ‘Clowns’ alongside ‘The Fix’: a piece created just prior to the recent year and a half of extensive lockdowns. Based in the UK but (in ‘normal’ times) performing his company’s work on the world circuit, he draws from an international pool of highly inventive dancers, from countries such as South Korea, France and the USA. Hofesh’s aim to utilise the medium of dance to “poke and tap into our deepest emotions; an instinctive, deep-rooted part of ourselves that we rarely access in modern life” - in short to: “celebrate and inspire the freedom of the human spirit” - was in abundant evidence in this double bill.
The first piece ‘Clowns’ was a highly atmospheric, macabre piece, exploring the world of entertainment and the violent extremes those within it are at times, willing to go to. Led very much by the brilliant lighting design of Lee Curran and hauntingly powerful soundtrack with a sinister underlaying of its baseline and cleverly interspersed artillery fire (created by Shechter himself), the ten-strong dance ensemble brought bristling energy and a dark aggression to the stage. Using a range of motifs - largely in the form of brilliantly choreographed repeated ‘murders’ in the name of entertainment, but also interspersed with elements of traditional Eastern European and Irish dance forms alongside Sufi influences - ‘Clowns’ took us on an immersive, rollercoaster of a journey that was relentless, horrifying and quite thrilling to watch - encapsulating Shechter’s aim of “creating a path for the audience where they are racing to catch up with me.”
The second piece ‘The Fix’ was a stark transition in mood and style, created in a small village in Italy to explore ideas around isolation and being separated from life outside - ironically, well before the world entered into that exact scenario. Originating as a response to ‘Clowns’, Shechter in contrast, wanted to embrace the more precious, loving relationships between people: a deliberately naive approach to how the world works, namely: “underneath all the rubble….a person craving a hug - that might be the biggest motivation out of everything.” Indeed the piece is a softer, more fluid exploration and expression of relationships, speaking directly to our need for human connection with the accompaniment of Scechter’s hypnotic, trance-like score, and stark lighting that allows us to confront in a more honest way, what it is, especially in these times of anxious unease, to be human.
With an impassioned introduction at the start of the programme of “we’re back!” and an accompanying celebratory dance (and much hip hip hooraying) vibrantly delivered to Offenbach’s euphorically outrageous ‘Can Can’ theme, this was an important marking of a hopeful shift in the unprecedented dark times the world has recently been plunged into. What resonated less for me however, was the hugging of random audience members at the end, conveying a somewhat controversial message of relief that “it’s all over”. Whilst this was very well-received by many of the young audience present, I couldn’t help feeling a bit of a party-pooper, as somehow this gesture felt premature and not entirely appropriate, given the pandemic’s current evolving context. Nonetheless it would be difficult to deny the huge importance of a message confirming our need to quite simply physically (and emotionally) connect with one another, whoever we are; and celebrate life, wherever possible.
Reviewer - Georgina Elliott
on - 18.9.21
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