Dance
Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut
Hofesh Shechter Company
German premiere
Premiere 8 July 2011, Montpellier Danse
Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut © Tom Medwell
Hofesh Shechter’s Political Mother – declared an »audio visual marvel« by critics after its premiere in 2010 – returns, specially revamped for 40 performers. In 2009 Shechter reworked his acclaimed programme Uprising / In your rooms into a musical feast of percussion and strings, creating an unforgettable dance ›gig‹. Now, Political Mother gets the same treatment.
»My work is not finished until there is an audience watching … It is a ceremony, and the ceremony is made for the audience. It’s made up of the energy that is bouncing back and forth between the stage and the audience. It is a primitive thing that has been going on since theatre was invented.«
Hofesh Shechter
Bringing the atmosphere of a rock concert, and brimming with the gritty and emotional complexity of Shechter’s extraordinary dance work, Political Mother: The Choreographer‘s Cut gives audiences an experience like no other. It will be performed with a live band of over 20 musicians alongside the 16 dancers of the Hofesh Shechter Company.
»Effortlessly hip, endlessly energetic, exhilarating, sexy and loud enough to burst your ear drums.«
Daily Telegraph
»With its surreal concept, punchy, furiously energetic choreography and thunderous rock score, this is a terrific piece of staging and an experience like no other.«
Sunday Times
Cast
Choreography and music Hofesh Shechter
Lighting design Lee Curran
Costume design Merle Hensel
Musical assistance Yaron Engler
With Maëva Berthelot, Winifred Burnet-Smith, Chien-Ming Chang, Sam Coren, Frederic Despierre, Laura de Vos, Karima el Amrani, Christopher Evans, James Finnemore, Bruno Guillore, Philip Hulford, Jason Jacobs, Yeji Kim, Erion Kruja, Sita Ostheimer and Hannah Shepherd
The Band
Louisa Aldridge, Christopher Allan, Rebekah Allan, Laura Anstee, Joseph Ashwin, Ian Cotterill, Jub Davis, Yaron Engler, Alison Gillies, Dominic Goundar, Joel Harries, Tim Harries, Edward Hoare, Norman Jankowski, James Keane, Moshe Kop, Vincenzo Lamagna, Bethan Lewis, Andrew Maddick, Desmond Neysmith, Richard Phillips, Jordi Riera and Natasha Zielazinski
Co-production Sadler’s Wells London, Montpellier Danse and spielzeit’europa | Berliner Festspiele
Political Mother was originally commissioned by Brighton Dome and Festival, Sadler’s Wells and Movimentos – Festwochen der Autostadt in Wolfsburg. The work was co-commissioned by Biennale de la Danse de Lyon, Théâtre de la Ville, Romaeuropa and Mercat de les Flors and produced in collaboration with Theatre Royal, Plymouth and with support from DanceXchange, Birmingham. The score for Political Mother was created in collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and barbicanbite09; with research supported by Jerwood Studio at Sadler’s Wells. Collaboration with FOS supported by Outset.
Subsidised rehearsal facilities provided by the Jerwood Space