This February, embark on a journey close to home that will take you further than you imagined, and let yourself be swept into a whirlwind of culture, sound, and movement with Hofesh Shechter’s latest masterpiece, Theatre of Dreams, coming to the Belgian theatre, Central — La Louvière. From 19 to 23 February, the internationally acclaimed dancer, composer and choreographer takes his audience on an immersive exploration of perception and emotion.
Through Shechter’s own brilliant compositions, the mesmerising light design of award-winning Tom Visser and the company’s thirteen stunning dancers, the performance blurs the boundaries between the real and the surreal, the conscious and the unconscious, and what unfolds both in front of and behind the curtain.
‘People who make their dreams come true definitely have something extra… They rise above social codes because they know that their dreams are on the other side of the curtain’ – Éric Blondeau
Reactions so far have been nothing short of ecstatic, with messages across social media platforms describing the show as ‘Splendid!’, ‘S T U P E N D O’, ‘I never felt something like that during a dance show’, ‘Quel spectacle éblouissant’, ‘‘Lo spettacolo piu bello che abbia mai visto’, and ‘My face still aches from smiling’.
Shechter’s discreet yet fierce demeanour, sharp sense of humour, and effortless blend of simplicity with insatiable curiosity and intelligence transcend onto the stage. After a highly successful Paris premiere in October 2024, the Israeli British choreographer returns to Belgium.
Rather than opting to perform Theatre of Dreams in Brussels, Ghent, or Antwerp, Shechter chose La Louvière – a city shaped by its working-class roots, forged by coal and steel, now redefining itself through art. While most visitors to Belgium gravitate towards its renowned cultural centres, few consider this former mining town, better known for producing football stars like Enzo Scifo and Eden Hazard than for its ties to dance and the arts.
But Schechter’s choice is deliberate and fitting. The city’s dissonance and raw industrial backdrop are in perfect harmony with the contrasts present in the choreographer’s work: gritty and sophisticated, hypnotic and chaotic, deeply personal yet universal, the perfect ‘theatre of dreams’.
This show, like his other creations, captivates the audience by engaging it from the very first scene, with a clear message. A lone dancer appears on stage and forces his way through the curtain, an emblematic element that becomes an active part of the choreography, revealing, concealing, transforming. The audience is drawn into the movement, travelling through consciousness and unconsciousness, or dream and reality, what happens in front of or behind the curtain. It could even be understood as an allegory of life and death.
The spectator, too, becomes part of the choreography. The stage curtains become peeping holes, offering fragments of different scenes, inviting him to question reality: what is real and what is hidden, is the audience viewing the show or is it the show? An almost voyeuristic experience and clever comment on today’s world of fake news and distorted truths.
Shechter started his dancing career with folk dance, as his choreography reflects through his love of troupe movement. The thirteen dancers command not only the stage, but extend beyond it, immersing the audience in a shared, almost visceral experience.
The music, mostly composed by Shechter himself, in collaboration with Yaron Engler, is an eclectic as the choreography. It is an unexpected yet harmonious mix of percussive rhythms, samba-salsa-bossa nova rhythms, and cinematic elements. The energy that emerges is almost divine, certainly magical. On these pulsating rhythms, the dancer leap across the stage, run, fast or in slow motion, dress or undress, hurdle, intertwine, twirl, embrace, separate, while the chairs on which the audience sits vibrate with the intensity of it all.
At its core, Theatre of Dreams is an exploration of shifting perceptions, and the blurred lines between awareness and illusion, the tangible and the imagined, dreams and nightmares. Who are we, what do we see, are we together or separate, are we the ‘other’? As a spectator wrote, referencing Molly Drake lyrics, ‘When I had thought that we were “we”, but we were “you” and “me”’ – one of the two only musical pieces not composed by Schechter – ‘We are all experiencing the same piece but will take away different things’.
Like its troupe, Shecheter’s fans come from all over the globe, travelling far to see his performances and share in this unforgettable 90-minute experience.
Born in Jerusalem in 1975, Hofesh Shechter took up dancing as a teenager. A product of Batsheva and Naharin’s famous Gaga technique, he moved to London in 2002 where he founded his own company six years later. His success was phenomenal, immediate and international. In 2018 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire.
His work has been commissioned by other companies around the world, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Royal Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet. Always drawn to the cinema, he has created several works for the cameras, including Clown. During the COVID pandemic, he collaborated with Cédric Klapisch, whom he had admired since childhood, on the blockbuster En corps.
Some journeys happen by train, others in a theatre. With Theatre of Dreams, Hofesh Shechter once again proves himself a visionary who creates performances that cross borders, cultures and expectations. Whether in Paris, London or La Louvière, his work resonates.
As the curtain falls, the audience is left breathless, transformed and perhaps, for a moment, dancing on the edge of a dream.
If you can … Go see it!
