Internationally acclaimed dance company Hofesh Shechter will perform its renowned piece Political Mother today at the Kamani Auditorium. Hofesh, the founder of the group, shares with Shrabasti Mallik details of his choreography about the world’s obsession with power
How a young, shy boy growing up in Israel carved a niche for himself as as one of the UK’s most popular contemporary artist is an interesting story! Hofesh Shechter started off as a musician in a band and dance happened to him by chance. He was 12 when he took to folk dance and there was no looking back. “I was a very shy kid and I did not have a social life. What interested me about dance was the social aspect, the fact that we do everything together in front of so many people. Dance attracted me but I still really like music,” he says. Dance, he adds, changed his life and opened up a whole new world of opportunities for him. It was through dance that he discovered a different way of living life. “It is not surprising that I became a choreographer who also makes his own music. So I have my own way to connect with the audience. I am in two worlds — the world of music and the world of dance — at the same time. It seems very difficult at times but this is what I want to do,” he adds.
Hofesh was interested in the contemporary dance because it’s free. He feels that contemporary dance is very open and exciting, it is something where anything can happen. It’s the freedom of exploring and creating just about anything in this dance form that attracts him. He says, “Whatever I feel like doing I do. Unlike the Indian dance forms, which have a strong cultural base, contemporary is very open and exciting.”
Hofesh’s dance venture — Hofesh Shechter Company — has already created a worldwide audience and has been gathering critical acclaim since its formation in 2008. In the city to perform his creation Political Mother, he is sure to regale the audience with something they have never seen before. The Hofesh Shechter Company, he says, “was formed out of necessity in 2008.” He briefly narrates the story where within two months of his first show, promoters from all over the world showed interest in his art. “The Art Consulate supported us and eventually dancers were hired and the company was established,” he shares.
He believes that Political Mother, which he completed in 2010, has almost become something equivalent to his business card. He says, “The concept exploded into the dance scene and gathered a lot of interest from both the promoters and the audience. The work has also been raising political questions mainly because it’s a work that deals with the human obsession for power. It’s a piece that can belong anywhere and which also one which echoes in every place that we go to.”
According to Hofesh, the work is designed to make people question themselves, the world they live in, questions that are connected to our existence in this world. There are moments that can be very entertaining but in essence it’s a work of art. It tries to trigger the audience to think about things that are connected to power. How natural the human tendency is to react to oppression and greed and the lust for power.
Israeli folk and many other forms of folk dance have gone into the making of Political Mother. And it’s just not restricted to that, as Hofesh points out, “Folk dance everywhere is very similar. The piece is also about contemporary movements.” Telling us about the title for his piece, he says, “I liked the connection between the two words.” According to him, both the words have their individual sense of emotional attachment.
The concepts of most of his choreographies are drawn from his own life. The things that he sees around him influence his work. He adds, “This is contemporary dance, an art and I try to make it about things that really bother me, my life and genuinely interest me. I like questioning things around me and do it in the form of images, sounds and ideas.
Sharing his plans of collaborating with Indian artistes and exploring the Indian classical dance forms, he says that there have been conversations about an alliance. He informs, “It’s the beginning and we are not sure about the kind of collaboration we might come up with. It may be mentorship; may be coming with dancers here and may working with music schools.”
Being renowned for creating the musical scores for each of his dance creations with his raw, atmospheric music, Hofesh has also thought of infusing the tabla as part of the drums. “We bring our own style and it’s exciting to try and infuse it with Indian beat,” he says. His debut performance in India, in Hyderabad, has been an amazing experience. He says, “I never expected so many people to turn up. For most of them the contemporary dance form was new. Some liked the music; some enjoyed the dance while some were enthralled by the entire 70-minute non-stop performance.” He rounds off saying, “Dance, for me is not about the techniques — it’s not about how high you can lift your leg or how strong you are. It’s about connecting to certain emotions, ideas, energies and just going for it.”