In the history of British dance, the two decades from the 1990s to the 00s were a period of immense growth and change, when many of the companies who now shape the touring dance landscape were founded and flourished.
It’s 15 years since the Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter was the breakthrough avant-garde darling whose work, with its percussive scores and uniquely inflected, politically tinged choreography, electrified audiences and led to the foundation of his self-named company. He has built on his reputation in that time to the point where he can actually start poking fun at himself.
The irony in the title Contemporary Dance 2.0 is a clue to his intentions. It was originally created in 2019 for the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, and he has adapted and extended the piece to suit Shechter II, his company of young dancers, aged between 18 and 25, selected globally every two years and carefully nurtured.
All eight performers here – Tristan Carter, Cristel de Frankrijker, Justine Gouache, Zakarius Harry, Alex Haskins, Oscar Jinghu Li, Keanah Faith Simin and Chanel Veyent – vindicate the confidence placed in them. They are sensational, adapting perfectly to the Shechter style, which is one minute smooth and sinuous as silk and the next pulsing to a frantic beat of rapid, exhausting movement, as relentless as a heartbeat.
The piece is divided into five sections, each signed by the dancers appearing carrying rough cardboard (though Tom Visser’s sepulchral lighting and the oddness of the Art Depot’s rake made some hard to see). It begins, defiantly, with Pop, which is appropriately enough a bit like a night down the disco, with quite a lot of posing, a snatch of ballroom, some energetic jumps, and gatherings that look like flower petals, surging together under dim lights. At moments, the dancers join hands and walk forward, making a frieze that’s like a fringe of arches.
That slow, enjoined promenade, arms raised, repeats throughout the work in sections entitled successively With Feelings (which is darker and more tentative), Mother (a recurring theme and full of concerted group movement, arms shaking fiercely) and Contemporary Dance. In this last section, Shechter definitely smiles at his own distinctive style, throwing in the hops, jumps and jerky gestures that have made his name.
Yet although the style is fixed and unmistakable, the way he uses his dancers is always unique. They are clustered together, yet each is individually recognisable. In the same way, the movement is at once the same and different, full of passages where the action thrills by its sheer purity, speed and detail. What begins as parody becomes fully felt and utterly absorbing.
The final section – The End – reveals why Shechter is so hard to resist. Most of the score has been created by him, following relentless rhythms. But at the close, as Frank Sinatra’s My Way plays, each dancer makes their own mark on the stage. The contrast between the corny song and the different beat and texture of the steps makes the intricacy of the choreography and the personal nature of each performance gleam and shine. It’s uplifting and strangely emotional. Just as it ends, leaving the dancers grinning, sweat-stained and exhausted, you feel you want it to go on for ever.
Contemporary Dance 2.0 tours to Salisbury (15-16 July), Latitude festival (22-23 July), Wilderness festival (4 Aug) and the National Theatre River Stage, London (5-7 Aug) and will be at Battersea Arts Centre, London, 26-29 October
