Shechter Underground
Choreography and Music by Hofesh Shechter
In collaboration with Erion Kruja
This summer, for three nights only, our extraordinarily talented young dancers will perform Shechter Underground, a site-responsive show that will lead audiences through the atmospheric maze-like tunnels and rooms beneath Somerset House.
Hofesh is renowned for his bold, exhilarating and tribal choreography accompanied by a pulsating score, and in this unique experience, a group of anarchic performers will take the audience on a journey underground at Somerset House, through spaces not usually open to the public, as they play their parts in a macabre circus of comedy, murder and desire.
Hofesh Shechter Company dancer, Erion Kruja will take original movement from Hofesh’s hit show Clowns and shape it to respond directly to Somerset House’s historical setting. Enter a darkly comic, topsy-turvy world where fools can be kings and kings fools, and experience Hofesh’s inimitable theatre-dance-rock-gig style in an unforgettable and intimate setting.
Shechter Underground is performed by the young dancers of Hofesh’s apprentice programme Shechter II and complements Somerset House’s commitment to supporting and nurturing young talent across the creative sector with the launch of Creative Job Studio and Creative Careers Academy.
Reviews
'One of the sharpest, most daring choreographers/composers working today' - Vogue
★★★★★ 'While retaining his nervy edge, and continuing to saturate his universe with an icy vodka-rush of existential dread, Shechter has found a new delicacy. He responds to his storied surroundings with a subtly unfolding physical architecture. Courtly arms, precisely inflected necks and heads, alluring but pitiless gazes. That his dancers are so young, and at the same time so ageless and so knowing, is a large part of the pleasure. In the piece’s final moments they invite us to join their dance. It’s all too brief. A fleeting whirl through the shadows, and they’re gone.' - Luke Jennings, The Guardian
Inspiring contemporary culture
One of the city’s most spectacular and well-loved spaces, Somerset House is a new kind of arts centre in the heart of London, designed for today’s audiences, artists and creatives – an inspirational community where contemporary culture is imagined, created and experienced.