Culture Now: Hofesh Shechter

Hofesh Shechter is dance’s most electric contemporary choreographer. Since arriving in the UK in 2002, Israeli born Hofesh and his company have become recognised both nationally and internationally, winning critical and popular acclaim. Renowned for creating the musical scores to accompany his work, as well as for his unique physicality and edgy movement style, Hofesh confronts all conventional expectations within contemporary dance. He is in conversation with John Ashford.

Schecter's debut came in 2003, when he created Fragments, the first of a triptych (followed by Cult, 2004 and Uprising, 2006) of innovative, award-winning works that propelled him into the spotlight of new British choreography. In 2007 London’s three major dance venues The Place, Southbank Centre and Sadler’s Wells commissioned the creation of In your rooms, which achieved sell-out performances and excellent reviews. After forming his eponymous Company in 2008, Hofesh created Uprising/In your rooms: The Choreographers Cut (2009), which was performed at the iconic Roundhouse, and later that year, he was commissioned by Brighton Festival to produce The Art of Not Looking Back. In May 2010 he presented his first full-length work Political Mother, and it was this show that gained the Company the attention and following they deserved, allowing them to tour to some of the most prestigious international venues. More recently, he has collaborated with the sculptor Anthony Gormley to create the large-scale art/dance phenomenon Survivor, which premiered at the Barbican in January 2012.

In addition to being commissioned by numerous UK-based dance companies, Shechter has worked internationally to present both new and remounted works including Ballet CeDeCe (Portugal), Bern Ballet (Switzerland) and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet (New York) earning countless nominations and awards. Shechter’s work has most recently won him the British Theatre Institutes Award for Excellence in International Dance (2011). He is an Associate Artist at Sadler's Well Theatre, London and his Company is Resident at the Brighton Dome.

John Ashford is Director of Aerowaves, a European network for research and presentation of emerging dance companies. Founded in 1997, resulting performances are now shown in 20 cities. John was Theatre Director at The Place in London from 1986 to 2009, initiating the annually repeated dance seasons Spring Loaded, Resolution!, The Turning World; and the biennial Place Prize, the choreographic research project Choreodrome, and the international showcase now known as British Dance Edition. He was previously Director of the ICA Theatre, and founding Theatre Editor of Time Out.