{"id":1110035,"date":"2026-07-25T06:55:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T06:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1110035\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T06:55:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T06:55:32","slug":"hofesh-shechter-in-the-brain-southbank-centre-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1110035\/","title":{"rendered":"Hofesh Shechter: IN THE BRAIN \u2013 Southbank Centre, London"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Choreographer: Hofesh Shechter<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Based on a piece called CAVE, which Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter produced for the Martha Graham Company, IN THE BRAIN is now in the hands of Shechter II, a team comprised of dancers aged 18-25. The 55-minute show features all the Shechter hallmarks \u2013 driving music, murky shadows and haze \u2013 but fans of the uncompromising choreographer may be wanting something a little different.<\/p>\n<p>Despite seeming to start in the depths of the ocean, there is no narrative, apart from the compulsion to dance. Shechter\u2019s sound design quickly shifts from underwater gurgles to his usual techno-trance sounds, and the tight and shimmering shoal of dancers begins to perform Shechter\u2019s usual range of moves, the moves that have made him so famous. There\u2019s the walk of the dead \u2013 zombified shuffles across the stage, each step hitting the beat of the music \u2013 and arms raised as if they are manically praying in a Pentecostal church. Occasionally, the dancers join hands, their arms aloft as if they are about to begin a folk dance.<\/p>\n<p>Regular collaborator light designer Tom Visser throws the stage into darkness, so much that we only really see the faces of the eight dancers at the curtain call. As usual \u2013 although not quite so often \u2013 Visser turns off the lights completely while the dancers reconfigure on stage. One of these blackouts seems ponderously long. But finally, the dancers appear, hands linked in a chain.<\/p>\n<p>Designer Osnat Kelner has seven of the dancers dressed in a modern Medieval style: burgundy breeches, white frilly shirts. But the eighth dancer wears a contemporary blue suit jacket with trousers to match. It\u2019s an incongruous decision, and he ends up looking like a drunk office worker at a Christmas party while the other dancers look pleasingly atemporal.<\/p>\n<p>All of the eight, however, are razor sharp in their movements, especially towards the end when the techno pulses harder, all their limbs working overtime in perfect synchronisation. At times, one dancer will break off to do some frantic shaking, although they work better as an ensemble. Indeed, it\u2019s the speed of the dance that perhaps allows it to stand out from other Shechter pieces. With no humour \u2013 no mock executions as in Clowns \u2013 and with no sense of redemption as in post-Covid\u2019s The Fix, IN THE BRAIN clearly showcases the talents of the young performers, but there is no heart here. It\u2019s cold and austere. And disappointingly familiar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Runs until 25 July 2026 and continues to tour<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tThe Reviews Hub Star Rating <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Choreographer: Hofesh Shechter Based on a piece called CAVE, which Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter produced for the Martha&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1110036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,20905,393,4884,302728,302729,257,302730,6080,302731,11646,302732,16,15],"class_list":["post-1110035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-britain","tag-dance","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-hofesh-shechter","tag-in-the-brain","tag-london","tag-osnat-kelner","tag-review","tag-shechter-ii","tag-southbank-centre","tag-tom-visser","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116979310707219052","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1110035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1110036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1110035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1110035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1110035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}