Hofesh Shechter OBE
Artistic Director
Choreographer Hofesh Shechter OBE is recognised as one of the most exciting artists making stage work today, renowned for composing atmospheric musical scores to compliment the unique physicality of his movement. He is Artistic Director of the UK-based Hofesh Shechter Company, formed in 2008. The company are resident at Brighton Dome and Shechter is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells.
Hofesh Shechter’s repertoire for the company includes Uprising (2006), In your rooms (2007), The Art of Not Looking Back (2009), Political Mother (2010), Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut (2011), Sun (2013), barbarians (2015), Grand Finale (2017), SHOW (2018) and POLITICAL MOTHER UNPLUGGED (2020). Grand Finale was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production.
Shechter has also staged and choreographed works on leading international dance companies including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Batsheva Ensemble, Candoco Dance Company, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater 1, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet Flanders.
He has choreographed for theatre, television and opera, notably at the Metropolitan Opera (New York) for Nico Mulhy’s Two Boys, the Royal Court on Motortown and The Arsonists, the National Theatre on Saint Joan and for the Channel 4 series Skins. As part of #HOFEST, a 4 week festival celebrating Shechter’s work across 4 iconic London venues, he co-directed Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice with John Fulljames at the Royal Opera House. In 2016 he received a Tony Award nomination for his choreography for the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.
In 2018 Hofesh Shechter was awarded an honorary OBE for Services to Dance and the company's first dance film, Hofesh Shechter’s Clowns, was broadcast by the BBC in September to great acclaim.
In 2020, Hofesh Shechter Company was named the winner of the Fedora – VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Prize for Ballet for LIGHT: Bach Dances, in collaboration with Royal Danish Opera and co-directed by Hofesh Shechter and John Fulljames.
Hofesh Shechter’s new creation Double Murder will premiere in 2021.
Colette Hansford
Executive Producer
As Executive Producer and co-founder of Hofesh Shechter Company, Colette has led on the business and strategic development of the company for the last 10 years, growing the brand worldwide and producing and delivering UK and international touring work, alongside numerous large-scale creative projects. These include Olivier Award nominated production Grand Finale, Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut at Brixton Academy, Orphée et Eurydice at the Royal Opera House and Hofesh Shechter’s Clowns, commissioned by the BBC for Performance Live. Prior to this, Colette worked in programming, artist development and venue management, initially with ATG Theatres before moving into dance, as Administrative Director – Theatre and Artistic development at The Place.
Colette is a Trustee of Stopgap Dance Company.
Bruno Guillore
Associate Artistic Director
From: Egypt
Training: Conservatoire de Paris, under the direction of Quentin Rouillier.
For Hofesh Shechter Company: Bruno was a founding member of the Company and has been involved in all of Hofesh’s creations, since the early works of Uprising and In Your Rooms to his most recent piece Grand Finale. He has performed in Uprising, In your rooms, Political Mother, Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut, Survivor, Sun, barbarians.
Other Work: Beatriz Consuelo (Ballet Junior de Genève), Richard Wherlock (Luzern Ballet and Komische Oper Berlin), Iracity Cardoso and Paulo Ribeiro (Ballet Gulbenkian, Lisbon). He danced in works by Richard Wherlock, Guilherme Botelho, Ed Wubbe, Örjan Andersson, Rui Horta, Itzik Galili, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Stijn Celis, Mauro Bigonzetti, Didy Veldman, Marie Chouinard, Clara Andermatt, Rui Lopes Graça, Regina van Berkel and Paulo Ribeiro. Bruno featured in the film Passengers by Richard Wherlock.
Becky Ruffell
Head of Operations
Adam Hooper
Head of Production and Touring
Adam has worked in Dance and Live Art for a number of years, with companies including Michael Clark, Russell Maliphant, DV8, Tate Modern, BBC, The Cholmondeleys and The Featherstonehaughs.
Claire Lee
Head of Development
Claire is an experienced Development Director and freelance Development Consultant with a career spanning the charitable sector. Having initially trained at the NSPCC during the £250m FULLSTOP Campaign in major philanthropic giving, she has since applied her skills within the arts through strategic planning and front-line fundraising delivery, formerly as Development Director for Lift and Fevered Sleep. She has freelanced as a Development Consultant since 2007. Clients include; Fevered Sleep, Hackney Empire, Upswing, Russell Maliphant Company and KIT Theatre for whom Claire has secured strategic grants to support new programme areas or new business plans.
Claire studied Modern Languages at the University of Bristol and Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts and Central St Martins (now University of the Arts London).
Claire joined Hofesh Shechter Company in 2018 as Development Associate and is now Head of Development.
David Steele
Learning Associate
Professor David Steele, FRSA, was previously Dean of the School of Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Prior to which he held posts at Centre National de Danse Contemporaine, France, Director of Studies and London Contemporary Dance School, Vice Principal. He was also the founding rector of The Danish National School for Contemporary Dance. He has been a visiting lecturer at many leading schools, amongst them Rosella Hightower School in Cannes and Rudra Béjart, Lausanne. In 2008 he was created a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. In 2015, he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University, by his Alma Mater, Middlesex University.
Melanie Clark
Executive Assistant
Melanie trained at the New Zealand School of Dance and after graduating, worked as a freelance dancer and produced, choreographed and performed with dance theatre company ‘The Unit’ which toured throughout New Zealand.
Since moving to London, Melanie has gained a Masters in Creative Practice at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, assisted in movement research with Company Wayne McGregor and taught contemporary dance at Tring School for the Performing Arts and City Academy. Melanie joined the team at Hofesh Shechter Company in 2018.
Lucy Moelwyn-Hughes
Producer - Artist Development
Lucy trained at Bodywork Company Dance Studios in Cambridge and then at London Contemporary Dance School. She spent the next eight years touring, performing and teaching (Tardis, V-TOL, CandoCo). In 2000, Lucy became Education Officer at The Place where she taught projects in schools across London and managed The Place’s youth companies and boys’ projects.
From 2004 onwards, Lucy worked freelance for a range of organisations (CandoCo, Dance Touring Partnership and London Borough of Camden). During this time she also retrained to become a Pilates Matwork teacher, and still leads classes in North London.
Lucy joined the team at Hofesh Shechter Company in 2013.
