DanceHouse launched its 15th season with the Canadian premiere of Hofesh Shechter Company’s hypnotic and high-energy double bill Double Murder.
On stage October 21st and 22nd, at the Vancouver Playhouse, Double Murder is created by internationally celebrated choreographer/composer Hofesh Shechter (OBE). The work is a thrilling exploration of the chaotic and oppressive forces present within our modern times. The performance features two distinctly contrasting works: Clowns is a sarcastic and playful nod to our ever-growing indifference to violence, while The Fix presents a tender, fragile antidote to the omnipresent forces of aggression that press on us daily. Set to Shechter’s sweepingly cinematic, percussive score, Double Murder exposes painful truths and deep emotions.
photo: Todd MacDonald
“We are delighted to open our 15th anniversary season with the highly anticipated return of the inimitable Hofesh Shechter Company, who were last seen on the DanceHouse stage in 2015,” says Jim Smith, Artistic and Executive Director of DanceHouse. “The Company’s explosive energy and rhythmically intricate choreography will bring audiences on a spellbinding journey of raw and emotional discovery, from the urgent movement and pounding beats of Clowns to the calming and meditative sounds of The Fix.”
Opening the evening is Clowns, a macabre comedy of murder and desire, which unleashes a whirlwind of percussive, frenetic energy, testing how far we are willing to go in the name of entertainment.
As a counter-balance to the murderous Clowns, Shechter’s newest creation, The Fix brings a tender, fragile sentimentality to the stage, with gentler, rolling sounds and soothing, meditative choreography.
photo: Todd MacDonald
Influenced by a diverse collection of sources, including Israeli folk dance, clubbing culture, rock performance, and installation art and film, Shechter’s high-energy and distinctive choreographic style has been described as a “combination of dance-maker and rock-star, but with film-director sensibilities” (The Times). The Israeli-born, UK-based contemporary choreographer and composer has created more than a dozen works through his eponymous dance company, which launched in 2008. His works have been performed at leading festivals and on major international stages from Rio to Sydney, Shanghai to New York, winning him a passionate worldwide following.
Shechter has also worked as a choreographer in theatre, television and opera, most notably with the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Paris Opera Ballet, and Bartlett Sher’s Fiddler On The Roof on Broadway (2015), for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. In 2018, Shechter was awarded an honorary OBE (Order of the British Empire) for Services to Dance, and he currently serves as Artist-in-Residence of Gauthier Dance in Stuttgart, Germany (2021-2023), and as an associate artist of Sadler’s Wells Theatre.
Witness Shecter’s work for yourself as DanceHouse presents Double Murder October 21 and 22, 2022 at 8pm at Vancouver Playhouse. For more details and book tickets online at dancehouse.ca