Hofesh Shechter: Political Mother
Having seen the startling premier of Shechter’s astonishing work that garnered so much praise I was excited to see how it would be almost two years on. After all, so many artists will develop, tweak and tinker with a piece over the years. But not Shechter, or at least, if he has, it is imperceptible. Not that I should have been surprised by this. There was a sense of completeness, of confidence and strength in it first time round that should have told me that this was a work in which he had few doubts.
Shechter is an artist who sees the whole as being his responsibility, the movement, the music, the stetting and the light are all touched by his artistic vision and, as a result, there is a cohesion to the work that few others achieve. Of course, this is only true because he has talent in all these areas. A lesser talent could only be branded a control freak.
The content too has real depth, challenging intellectually as well as aurally and visually. He is the master of shape shifting, he uses intense dark moments to alter the image before us, but at lightning speed, almost filmic cross-fades that confound the eyes when seen live. There are moments of terror too, of hurt and pain, but also humour. Few creators of dance achieve these shifts in mood and employ pathos and bathos to such great effect. Political Mother is a masterpiece, Shechter is a brilliant artist on so many levels and in so many disciplines but I suspect we will never see the like of Political Mother again. I am sure that creatively he will move on and on, always challenging himself and his audiences alike.
Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 31 January 2012
Rating:
Andrew Kay
I was tremendously disappointed with Political Mother. Uninspiring, bland, repetitive. I might even have put it down to the idea that perhaps the dancers all had food poisoning, had it not been obvious that the choreography was just downright poor.
The different sequences were samey and, although different things were generally happening in each, there was little to commend each idea.
Don’t get me wrong – the concept of political oppression is a worthy subject for a performance. But neither Hofesh Schechter, nor his troupe of dancers, did it justice.
I’ve found before that in good dance productions, one or two of the dancers will really impress on me and become notable characters in their own right, but I didn’t find that to be the case with Schechter’s troupe. The nearest I got was some guy in dreadlocks and the least charismatic Woman in a Red Dress I’ve ever seen.