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Watch the Hofesh Shechter: Political Mother Trailer
HOFESH SHECHTER: POLITICAL MOTHER
“PART DANCE SHOW, PART HEAVY-ROCK GIG, HOFESH SHECHTER’S WORK IS AN AUDIO VISUAL MARVEL - * * * * *” THE TELEGRAPH, UK
Make no mistake, Political Mother is loud. It is also a vigorous and highly ambitious dance work from the Israeli-born, UK-based choreographer and composer who is astonishing dance audiences the world over.
Performed by ten dancers, Political Mother is militant, powerful and fuelled by real anger. Hofesh Shechter’s puzzle of political indoctrination - of freedom and war, honour and service, duty and sacrifice - unravels in a sensory overload of percussive grooves, electric guitars and the pounding of drums live on stage in Shechter’s own cinematic score.
After the World Premiere of Political Mother in May 2010 at the Brighton Festival, reviewers across the world have been reaching for superlatives: Political Mother has ‘the totality of Wagner and a power like nothing on this earth.’ THE BRIGHTON MAGAZINE.
“In adding the vibe of a rock concert to contemporary dance, Shechter is bringing the form to life for a new generation of spectators” THE STAGE, UK.
“As ambitious and as hair-prickingly exhilarating as modern dance gets - * * * * *” THE TELEGRAPH, UK
“…delivered like a roar of defiance in the face of an omnipotent, malevolent force. It’s visceral, painful and very, very exciting but even in the dark void at its centre there is humanity and tenderness, never quite extinguished * * * *” THE TIMES, UK
POST SHOW Q&A: SUNDAY 4 JULY (FOLLOWING THE 1.30PM SHOW)
WATCH THE BBC INTERVIEW WITH HOFESH SHECHTER ON POLITICAL MOTHER
POLITICAL MOTHER OFFICIAL WEBSITE
HOFESH SHECHTER COMPANY WEBSITE
This performance contains smoke effects, loud music and 30 seconds of strobe lighting.
Warning: total lockout - latecomers will not be admitted.
Venue: Drama Theatre
Dates: 1 - 4 July 2010
Duration: Approximately 60 minutes with no interval
British Council are proudly supporting the Q&A with Hofesh Shechter on 4 July
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British Council are proudly supporting the Q&A with Hofesh Shechter on 4 July
Reviews
REVIEW: THE TELEGRAPH, UK (FOR HOFESH SHECHTER’S POLITICAL MOTHER)
It’s not every dance work that bears the caution: “Warning: noise levels may exceed 100db”, or that begins with a lone warrior committing hara-kiri. But then, Israeli-born, London-based Hofesh Shechter is no ordinary choreographer.
His full-length piece, Political Mother, in many ways calls to mind In Your Rooms and Uprising, the diptych with which he first blew audiences away three years ago. The existential anguish; the uniquely tribal, simian steps; the driving score (by Shechter himself), the cinematic, spot-lit “jump-cuts” between different parts of the stage – all are here, but cranked up to a new, astonishing level.
No sooner has the soldier expired than the smoky auditorium is filled with a pulverising guitar-riff and beat, and two boys suddenly appear at the front of the stage, arms raised as if in desperate supplication. Then the stage is plunged into darkness, but the music continues for a few seconds, before – at the rear, lit as if trapped in glass cases – five martial-looking percussionists appear from nowhere, each pounding the hell out of a snare-drum. A Stalinesque dictator on a podium adds an indecipherable vocal roar to the swell; below him, five dancers begin a blazing routine; and above, a row of live guitarists crank the music up to a Metallica-like pitch.
Political Mother, then, does not sit around. Throughout, like a crazy film director with a twitchy “edit” finger, Shechter whisks us between different (oppressed) worlds and societies, groups and couples, states of mind and even styles of music. (Some way in to its 75 minutes, in a lovely moment of calm, baroque-style chamber music appears out of nowhere.)
Particularly striking is the way he zaps between exterior spectacle and interior monologue. Sometimes the drummers are simply drummers: part of a fascistic-looking political rally. But at other points, their furious pummelling seems more like a striking audio-visual manifestation of the torment in the dancers’ heads.
Ideally, Shechter might have devised a slightly more varied choreographic palate for each “world” . The hunched, sexy movement and rough-hewn stage geometries could only be by him, and the 10-strong troupe dance (aptly for such an apocalyptic piece) as if there’s no tomorrow – but the steps can be samey. And be warned: the score is played at the sort of volume that rearranges internal organs.
Whatever. Political Mother is a marvel of son et lumière, as ambitious and as heads-down, hair-prickingly exhilarating as modern dance gets – and, on July 14, it hits Sadler’s Wells for a four-night run. Move quickly.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/7749759/Hofesh-Shechters-Political-Mother-at-the-Brighton-Dome-review.html