Hofesh Shechter (born 3 May 1975) is an Israeli choreographer, dancer and composer based in London. He is best known for being the founder and artistic director of the Hofesh Shechter Company.
Shechter was nominated for the
Tony Award for Best Choreography
The Tony Award for Best Choreography is awarded to acknowledge the contributions of choreographers in both musicals and plays. The award has been given since 1947, but nominees were not announced until 1956.
Winners and nominees
1940s
1950s
...
in 2016 for his work on Bartlett Sher's revival of ''
Fiddler on the Roof''. Since 2016, he has been named as one of The Stage's 100 most influential people in theatre.
Early life
Hofesh Shechter was born in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Israel, in 1975.
At 6, Shechter began to study piano, later developing an interest in folk dance aged 12. At 15, he successfully auditioned for the
Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance as a pianist, but switched to dance upon his arrival, taking formal classes in ballet and modern dance.
Whilst still training as a dancer, Shechter was conscripted into the
Israel Defence Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...
on his eighteenth birthday. He later described this experience as "like an electrical short circuit in my brain".
Midway through the compulsory three years of his training, he moved to Tel Aviv when he was accepted as a junior into the
Batsheva Dance Company. To complete his army duty, Shechter was given an evening clerical job, and would train with Batsheva by day.
Shechter graduated to the main company, where he danced in works by
Ohad Naharin Ohad () was the third son of Simeon; he is mentioned in Genesis 46:10.
Ohad may also refer to:
__NOTOC__ People Surname
* Daniella Ohad, American design historian
Given name
* Ohad Benchetrit, Canadian musician
* Ohad Cohen, goalkeeper for Hapo ...
and
Wim Vandekeybus, amongst others, whilst also studying percussion.
After three years, Shechter left the company in order to play drums in a rock group, ''The Human Beings'', and study music in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. In 2002, he moved to London to perform with the
Jasmin Vardimon Company,
creating ''Fragments'' in 2003 on an interim with the company. Shechter also composed the music for the production.
Shechter was then commissioned by The Place Prize in 2004 to create ''Cult'', winning the Audience Choice Award. Further works include ''Uprising'' in 2006, ''In Your Rooms'', which he expanded in 2007 to work for the three venues
The Place, the
Southbank Centre and
Sadler's Wells
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...
, and ''The Art of Not Looking Back'' in 2009, for an all-female cast. In 2008 he choreographed the dance sequence that opened the second series of ''
Skins''.
He formed the Hofesh Shechter Dance Company in 2008.
Major works
*''Fragments'' (2003)
*''Cult'' (2004)
*''Uprising'' (2006)
*''In your rooms'' (2007)
*''The Art of Not Looking Back'' (2009)
*''Political Mother'' (2010)
*''Survivor'' (2012), commissioned by The Barbican, co-staged by Antony Gormley
*''Sun'' (2013)
*''Political Mother: The Choreographer's Cut'' (2014)
*''Untouchable'' (2015), commissioned by
The Royal Ballet
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...
*''Orphee et Eurydice'' (2015)'','' Royal Opera House Production
*''Barbarians'' (2015)
*''Clowns'' (2016), for
Nederlands Dans Theater
Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT; literal translation Netherlands Dance Theatre) is a Dutch contemporary dance company. NDT is headquartered at the ''Amare'' building in The Hague. NDT also performs at other venues in the Netherlands, including Amste ...
*''Fiddler on the Roof'' (2016), Broadway revival
*''Grand Finale'' (2017)
*''Show'' (2018)
*''Political Mother Unplugged'' (2020)
*''Double Murder'' (2021)
Personal life
Shechter has lived in the UK since 2002.
Awards
In 2018, Shechter was awarded an honorary OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
[ ]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shechter, Hofesh
1975 births
People from Jerusalem
Honorary Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Israeli male ballet dancers
Israeli choreographers
Living people