Professional Development
LONDON, BRIGHTON & ROTTERDAM WINTER INTENSIVES
Hofesh Shechter Company are delighted to announce our Winter Intensives courses, in London, Brighton and Rotterdam this February.
These courses will be planned and led by our wonderful team of Rehearsal Director Fred Despierre & Rehearsal Assistant Yeji Kim. They will be joined and our extraordinary company dancers.
Hearing and learning about the work from a range of different company members gives our participants a variety of insights and access points into exploring the work from many perspectives. We have learned, through extensive feedback, that our participants really value this approach.
These 4-day courses will share repertoire from Hofesh’s brand-new creation Theatre of Dreams. We are so excited to share this new work with the world, after a busy and intensive autumn touring period, where we took the piece to Europe. Our busy touring schedule continues in 2025 – more European dates and a trip to Asia are upcoming, but not before we have shared this mesmerizing new work with you!
You can find out more about Theatre of Dreams HERE
Each day will start with a full warm-up class, exploring Hofesh’s fundamental movement principles in the context of a company class, preparing the body for Hofesh’s movement language by engaging in different tasks and intensities through improvisation. This is the way we work on tour, and in rehearsal periods. After a short break we will share repertoire – a different extract from Theatre of Dreams each day.
Please note: both courses will cover the same content.
These courses are open to dancers, teachers and dance students – anyone looking to enrich and deepen their practice or training, and of course anyone interested in getting to know more about our work. You must be 18 years of age minimum, and we warmly welcome all ages upwards of that. Whether you are new to Hofesh’s work, or you have already danced with us before, there will be something for everyone to discover during the week.
Each course will culminate on Day 4 with a run-through of some of the repertoire learnt throughout the course.
“The course leaders had the perfect balance of kindness whilst providing amazing levels of detail and areas to improve. I felt so respected and that all the leaders really cared about us understanding the work. The dedication to our personal improvisational practice exceeded my expectations. I’m feeling super inspired and energised.“ Intensives Course Participant 2024
COURSE 1 LONDON Date: Tuesday 25th – Friday 28th February 2025 inclusive Time: 9.30 – 13.00 daily Venue: Steve Whitson Studio, ArtsAdmin, Tonybee Studios, 28 Commercial St, London E1 6AB https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/toynbee-studios/getting-here/ Cost: £220 for the week + booking fee BOOK HERE
COURSE 2 LONDON
Date: Tuesday 25th – Friday 28th February 2025 inclusive
Time: 14.00 – 17.30 daily
Venue: Steve Whitson Studio, ArtsAdmin, Tonybee Studios, 28 Commercial St, London E1 6AB https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/toynbee-studios/getting-here/
Cost: £220 for the week + booking fee
BOOK HERE
COURSE 1 BRIGHTON
Date: Tuesday 25th – Friday 28th February 2025 inclusive
Time: 9.30 – 12.30 daily
Venue: South East Dance, The Dance Space, 2 Market Square, Circus Street, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN2 9AS
https://southeastdance.org.uk/your-visit/find-us/
Cost: £200 for the week + booking fee
BOOK HERE
COURSE 2 BRIGHTON
Date: Tuesday 25th – Friday 28th February 2025 inclusive
Time: 13.30 – 16.30 daily
Venue: South East Dance, The Dance Space, 2 Market Square, Circus Street, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN2 9AS
https://southeastdance.org.uk/your-visit/find-us/
Cost: £200 for the week + booking fee
BOOK HERE
COURSE 1 ROTTERDAM
Date: Tuesday 25th – Friday 28th February 2025 inclusive
Time: 10.00 – 13.30 daily
Venue: Dansatelier, ‘s-Gravendijkwal 58A, 3014 EE Rotterdam.
www.dansateliers.nl
Cost: €260 for the week + booking fee
BOOK HERE
SHECHTER II
Shechter II is the Hofesh Shechter Company professional development programme for the next generation of emerging artists aged 18-25 – a company of young dancers selected every two years and representing the most exceptional world-class dancers from across globe.
Shechter II is not just about performance – it’s a full programme of professionally aligned research and development which aims to develop young dance artists who deeply understand their practice, who are engaged, curious and who embrace self-reflection.
“I grew a lot as a dancer, but also I had a lot of mental and emotional growth. It was powerful and interesting in that sense. It made me grow more as an artist in the work. I learned about life….that it’s not just what you see on the outside. This will help me a lot in the next place I go to – knowing myself more fully…how I work with people, how I see myself…” – Rosalia Panepinto, Shechter II dancer 2020
“I am so happy that I did this year – I don’t believe that any other company could have given me a similar experience. I am so grateful for all of you who make this possible – the team, Hofesh, Bruno & Ming, the colleagues who are now my dearest friends – we are a little touring family. What a total blessing this year has been and wow… how MUCH have I learnt.” – Chanel Vyent, Shechter II dancer 2022
The programme offers an extraordinary proximity to the workings and practices of a major international dance company, working closely with renowned choreographer, Hofesh Shechter, and touring the UK and Europe with a recreation of his most renowned works, while at the same time providing the support and underpinning that ensures heightened professional readiness.
Launched in 2018, Shechter II attracted critical acclaim and won the Prix de la Critique award for Best Performers at Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, where they staged 29 sold-out performances over two seasons of Hofesh Shechter’s SHOW. In 2020, 10 dancers marked the 10th anniversary of Shechter’s acclaimed classic Political Mother by reaching new online audiences through the live streams of POLITICAL MOTHER UNPLUGGED – invoking the ferocity and spirit of the original for a new era and compassing digital animation. The pandemic initially meant a more digital experience for this cohort of Shechter II dancers, resulting in Political Mother: The Final Cut, a captivating short film, created and directed by Hofesh. The film was live-streamed from Battersea Arts Centre, London in July 2021, to a global audience, over 3 nights, to huge acclaim and was recently named Grand Winner 2023 for Best Dance Film at Cannes World Film Festival.
Shechter II’s third edition of 8 dancers unleased the intensity of Hofesh’s ensemble work in 2022 with Contemporary Dance 2.0 – A rhythmic, fiercely energetic and exhilarating performance featuring an eclectic sound-score with euphoric feel and throbbing beats. This work achieved global recognition by reaching 35,000 audiences internationally, including 25 sell- out performances in Paris and at festival weekends of the National Theatre’s River Stage, Latitude and Lowlands Festivals.
In 2024 the next Shechter II 2024 programme will run from January 2024 to January 2025 and will involve a period of creation and rehearsal, followed by touring in the UK and internationally. Alongside this, the company is delighted to announce a new professional development offer – Jerwood 🖤 SII – funded by the Jerwood Developing Artists Fund. This will provide a rolling programme of discovery including studio time with another choreographer; a fund for dancers to explore specific research ideas; dedicated time with a dance scientist; teaching skills development; and self-promotion and preparation for the transition to a professional career.
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Jerwood Foundation
Jerwood Foundation was established in 1977 by Alan Grieve, CBE for John Jerwood. In 1991, after Jerwood’s death, Alan Grieve became chairman of the Foundation which to date has donated over £110 million to support the arts in the UK. In 2023 the Foundation merged with Jerwood Charity (Jerwood Arts) and at this time Alan Grieve was appointed Chairman Emeritus and Rupert Tyler was appointed Chairman. To find out more about Jerwood Foundation, visit jerwood.org