Grand Finale is a thought provoking, at times shocking, utterly transfixing piece of choreography by Hofesh Shechter whose own journey through life has been as interesting as his work. All elements play equally important roles in creating an atmosphere of impending doom and yet, there is also joy and humour.
As well as being the designated choreographer, Shechter is also the composer of Grand Finale. Playing piano as a child, his professional career began with Batsheva Dance Company but nearly 25 years ago Shechter left Israel for Paris, then London in order to pursue a career as a musician. With dance becoming a regular distraction, he was quickly recognised as a choreographer with something fascinating to say. His dance vocabulary is a mix of folk and contemporary, his music echoes this whilst also bringing in classical, electronic, rock and Middle Eastern influences.
It was in 2017 as a two-act piece called In Your Rooms, that this now reimagined work premiered with his own Hofesh Shechter Company. The pandemic, and recovery from it, prevented any further live performances and Shechter condensed the production to one hour, increased the number of dancers to 15 and has brought it to Opera Ballet Vlaanderen as Grand Finale. I cannot think of a company better suited to such high-octane energy levels.
One of the many highlights of the production was the presence of five musicians, the Antwerp based HERMESensemble, who play eleven instruments between them, move around on stage, sometimes out of sight, sometimes centre stage. Indeed, the music is intrinsic to the overall experience. Wearing evening dress and life jackets, a reference to the sinking of the Titanic where the musicians carried on playing until the bitter end, there was something amusing about way they appeared at strategic moments, calmly contained with their chamber music while surrounded by complete chaos and drama.
Shechter describes the piece as apocalyptic, the end of the world, at least as we know it. The dancers reflected this in desperate, feverish passages of explosive choreography. Bodies were dragged across the stage only for them to be resurrected and immersed in frantic physical exertions. Dancers and musicians segued their way in-between movable walls in an ever-changing scenario. Somehow the action never stopped, whilst there were uncanny moments of stillness, as if the cast needed a reset.
The dance was arranged in couples, solos and most successfully en masse with the large ensemble moving, shuddering, jerkily locking as one. The music, which was often very loud and rhythmic, pushed them so hard that it seemed like a test of stamina. Occasionally movements became aggressive with the cast appearing to assault one another. From aggression it swiftly switched to a kind of folk themed, more lilting rhythm.
Sharp head movements looked like nervous twitches, yet the precision and unity with which they executed everything was riveting. The simple repetition of some sequences, hypnotic. A passage with a handful of the cast was done open-mouthed. While the exact reason for this evaded me, I couldn’t help but gawp, mirroring them. It was all quite ghoulish and eerie.
When the musicians were centre stage the music was more classical. Wafts of Tchaikovsky and Léhar hung heavily in the air as the dancers launched into a series of waltzes.
The stage became more of a party zone as loud cheering ensued and one dancer, Janne Boere, was dragged to the front in a chair, clearly the worse for wear, and draped with a notice which said, “Back in 5”. The curtain came in behind him as the HERMESensemble played and sang and even managed to persuade the audience to join in! As the notice is switched to KARMA (did he get what he deserved?), the curtain rose again on the dancers in brightly coloured casual wear.
More frenetic sequences required a bigger dose of admiration for the sheer energy output. As the inevitable climax arrived, shafts of light pinpointed a series of vignettes, a couple kissing, a cluster of people curled up together. After the storm somehow these much less jolting scenes seemed to offer hope: that life carries on, you can experience love, there is support during hardship.
Lighting by Tom Visser was evocative of the mood changes, mostly dark, brief moments bathed in warm orange, with silhouetting and brighter moments. Tom Scutt's costumes and scenery felt very much in the present. Grand Finale is not a narrative work but the investment of each of the dancers was so compelling that one felt sucked into each mini drama. Astonishingly good dancers and musicians, combined with Shechter's striking, spontaneous looking choreography brought a full house to its feet. Definitely one worth seeing again.
Deborah's trip was sponsored by Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
