Shechter speaks on dance, politics

By Lee Hyo-won

Staff reporter

A samurai performs a ritual suicide and military drummers shatter the silence with a threatening cadence. A political dictator rants garbled sounds while the dancers’ once nimble, fluid gestures turn into what seems to be stilted, shackled movements in a prison cell.

The Hofesh Shechter Company made its Korea debut over the weekend with the Asia premiere of ``Political Mother,’’ spinning out fragments of political imagery through theatrical and musical elements that work in tune to various rhythms of body percussion.

London’s ``it’’ choreographer Shechter works in a language that is direct, visceral and unpretentious; it speaks to the masses, and in particular brings the live performance experience close to the young MTV-addicted generation that is perhaps more used to digital images and sound bites.

He harnesses together different audiovisual elements to reach artistic ends, to create a dynamic, spatial spectacle that functions with its own internal logic. The repetition of a core theme, though at times a bit drawn out in the middle section, is plotted out like a grand orchestral symphony.

``It’s still like a baby and we’re learning the energy of the piece,’’ Shechter told The Korea Times on Sunday at the LG Arts Center. Saturday’s show marked the third time he has staged the piece since its world premiere in Brighton last month.

``Political Mother’’ features political themes but he does not aim to propagate any agenda. ``I find taking sides ridiculous, from any direction you look at it. Politics is always about taking sides and being right or wrong,’’ said the Israeli-born artist.

``Artists are like scientists and we pose lots of questions, say about conflict, social structures, freedom and democracy. But we don’t come up with an answer,’’ he said with a twinkle of mischief in his smiling eyes. ``I try to pass on an energy or feeling that we are dealing with.’’

On Saturday’s performance, the audience responded with an explosive ovation. ``I was surprised. The Korean audience seemed quiet and reserved when they came in but created this energy,’’ he said.

It seems only natural that the piece resonated with Koreans; modern Korean history is one marked with conflict -- struggles against colonial power, inter-Korean war and political dictatorship. Even today, young men must deal with mandatory military training but their angst is channeled into something creative like becoming b-boy champions, as suggested by ``Planet B-boy’’ director Benson Lee.

Moreover, Koreans dwell upon the sense of cultural homogeneity. ``Political Mother’’ first and foremost inspires the viewer to reflect upon the madness of crowds and nature of cult behavior, whether people are bound by a political agenda or adoration of a rock star: dancers, hypnotized, sway in unison to figures on a podium, whether they are politicians or musicians.

But the human propensity to work in groups is not portrayed as sheer folly; some of the most affecting moments of the piece feature dancers engaged in free-spirited folk dances to Verdi with a touch of samba.

``Humans seem to have an instinct of belonging, that when we are part of something together it can be very exciting, whether it’s being part of a tribe or political activist (group). It’s quite tribal and primitive,’’ said Shechter.

On Saturday he was able to experience a very local form of cult behavior when the entire country, clad in red T-shirts, cheered for the victorious World Cup match against Greece. ``I was in a bar and everyone was wearing red. We (my company and I) were the only foreigners and when I shouted `go Korea!’ the people loved it. It was great,’’ he said.

Moreover, this instinct of belonging, when expressed through dance can be ``very chemical and physical,’’ he said. The idea manifests well in the piece as about a dozen or so figures cut through the space, huddled together to create a clustered movement or scattered about engage in individual sequences. A phrase borrowed from the Danish installation artist Fos crowns the finale: ``Where there is pressure there is folk dance.’’

Shechter himself, however, possesses a different sense of belonging. Though born in Israel he holds a German citizenship and has studied in France and is now based in the United Kingdom. ``I never felt obligated to be based in one place,’’ he said.

But geography seems to be of little consequence for Shechter and his globe-trotting troupe, which seems to translate across different cultures and generations.

The Hofesh Shechter Company will perform ``Political Mother’’ in Japan from June 20 to 27 followed by Australia, Singapore and different corners of Europe through the end of the year.