#hofesh

2 premieres, 2 venues, 1 week 1 free general rehearsal 1 pre-show talk 1 free dance workshop Performed by 22 Dancers, 55 Musicians and 37 Singers Watched live by over 9,000 people

Orphée et Eurydice World premiere: Royal Opera House

Music by Christoph Willibald Gluck Directed by Hofesh Shechter and John Fulljames Conducted by John Elliot Gardiner

Here’s what you’ve been saying:

Here’s what the press have been saying: 

★★★★★ The Independent ★★★★★  Mail on Sunday ★★★★★ The Londonist ★★★★ The Guardian ★★★★ The Telegraph ★★★★ Financial Times ★★★★ The Times ★★★★ The Observer ★★★★ The Stage ★★★★ Arts Desk ★★★ Evening Standard

“One of the most brilliantly original shows on this stage in years” The Independent 

“This is the most convincing fusion of opera and dance I have ever seen on any stage” The Sunday Times

“Dramatically exciting... Shechter’s choreography undeniably adds to the conviction of what is already a memorable staging” The Stage

“Inventive choreography... unfailingly responsive to the music” Evening Standard “An eclectic production of Gluck’s opera sets the bar high at the ROH” The Observer  

“The Royal Opera opened its 2015-16 season with a bang” Daily Mail

“Shechter’s innovative dance troupe move with such spirit the piece soars beyond the myth” A Younger Theatre

“fascinating dancing, exceptional orchestral playing, superb soloists” Bach Track

Our dancers talk about the challenges and opportunities of working with opera for the first time.

barbarians UK premiere: Sadler’s Wells

Choreography & Music: Hofesh Shechter Performed by Hofesh Shechter Company

Here’s what you’ve been saying:

To everyone who joined us for the first week of the season - thank you for being part of #HOFEST.  After months of touring it’s a pleasure to be back in London and to share our work with a home crowd.

There’s three weeks left and plenty more to come: www.hofesh.co.uk/hofest

Announcing #HOFEST

Planning a new season is always exciting and 2015-16 was already shaping up to be a fantastic year.  An invitation from the Royal Opera House for Hofesh to co–direct his first opera was one of the first projects in the pipeline.  After years of conversation between John (Fulljames) and Hofesh, the production of Orphée et Eurydice became a reality – with the incredible opportunity for Hofesh to bring our dancers with him to perform in the production.  

At the same time, we were planning a brand new evening of short, experimental works that Hofesh would make with our company dancers over the course of the year with London performances at Sadler’s Wells.  As the Opera schedule emerged, an idea emerged with it.  What if we could work with the Royal Opera House and Sadler’s Wells to schedule our performances over the same period – allowing our full-time company of dancers to enjoy working in the same city for an extended period of time, and for us to reach out to our audiences at both venues and encourage them to see two very different works from the company.

As part of our three year partnership with East London Dance, we were invited to present our new apprentice company, Shechter Junior at Stratford Circus. The chance to bring them to East London and perform alongside the main company at the same time felt too good to be true.  And #HOFEST was born!  

As plans for the #HOFEST programme developed, the company was busy on its international tour, with Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut in the Grande Halle at La Vilette being performed to sell out audiences in Paris.  This was all such an incredible experience that we decided to bring the work back to London (perhaps for the last time!) and settled on one of the city’s most iconic music venues, O2 Academy Brixton, and when better than at the end of our 4 week London season.

#HOFEST is Hofesh Shechter company’s way of celebrating some fantastic projects and in particular our amazing partners who help us make it happen.   We hope that our audiences will enjoy immersing themselves in Hofesh's work and will come and see us at one or more of these varied yet amazing venues across London this autumn.  

Helen Shute, Executive Director, Hofesh Shechter Company

Hofesh the sea turtle