Hofesh Shechter Company: Theatre of Dreams; Diana Niepce: The Other Side of Dance – review
For Hofesh Shechter, being the great hope of contemporary dance has sometimes seemed a burden. From his breakthrough with the towering In Your Rooms in 2006 to the formation of his own company two years later, the Israeli choreographer has always seemed propelled by his intense, dark vision – and weighted by its responsibility.
His new work, Theatre of Dreams, is richly rewarding, shaped by an imagination that slinks along a tightrope between dream and nightmare. It opens with a dancer rising from the stalls to bend through a triangular hole in a curtain and progresses through a series of split-second sweeps and reveals, different sets of curtains swooping across the stage to reveal ever-changing tableaux.
The dancing and the mood alter with the same precision, switching from group to solo, from fun-filled to aggressive, from scuttling, knees-bent, to running on the spot as if unable to escape an unseen demon. A red-suited band appear on both sides of the stage, their seductive rhythms softening the relentless, percussive progress of Shechter’s own score. Dancers constantly peer round the curtains or settle, quietly, watching events unfold as if studying the TV.
If Shechter gains his effects from effortless, incessant movement, Diana Niepce is interested in the power of effort
Tom Visser’s lighting is a partner in the shaping of the space and the creation of the world. He doesn’t just illuminate the stage, he seems to make the air thick, carving blocks of light that frame the action, sometimes bathing it in warm reds, sometimes bleaching colour and life away in charcoals and bluey greens.
It’s astonishingly beautiful, constantly inventive. Shechter’s earlier work Grand Finale (2017) set his tireless dancers on the decks of the Titanic; there’s a similar mood here, a constant banishing of the shadows. But there’s also a sense of discovery, of the capacity of the human spirit to revive, to fantasise and to dance. At one point the audience are asked to join in – an invitation difficult to resist.
If Shechter gains his effects from effortless, incessant movement, the Portuguese choreographer and dancer Diana Niepce is interested in the power of effort. Since suffering a spinal cord injury in a trapeze accident, she has explored ways of using the disabled body in mainstream dance. The Other Side of Dance, shown as part of Dance Umbrella, begins with her body being dragged on to stage by a walking dancer, then left, sprawled and still.
Tiny, fragile, with her hair rising above her head like a question mark, and black and white zigzag leggings covering her immobile legs, Niepce slowly stretches and flexes her arms, moving her legs into knots and patterns, tying herself together like a pretzel, creating diagonal lines. She pushes herself over and around, staring out at the audience, thoughtful, challenging. She begins in silence, then moves to snatches of music that become relentless.
In the second part, the light changes, and Niepce, now topless, is strapped into a machine like a giant tuning fork. A man balances and manoeuvres the weighted end as she rises into the air, at first dangling like a puppet but gradually creating arcs through her stretched back. At the close, he moves away and leaves her balanced, moving softly as the light fades, flying alone.
Star ratings (out of five)
Hofesh Shechter Company: Theatre of Dreams ★★★★
Diana Niepce: The Other Side of Dance ★★★★
Theatre of Dreams is at the Brighton festival in spring 2025
Dance Umbrella runs at various venues, and online, until 31 October
