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Dreamscape

The surge protectors needed replacement after the Hofesh Shechter Company’s concluded four nights performing “Theatre of Dreams” at the Powerhouse: International festival in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The dance’s explosive energy and raw physicality pumping through the old power station-turned-arts complex was almost too much to bear. But the audience responded with unrestrained zeal.

Performance

Hofesh Shechter Company: “Theatre of Dreams”

Place

Powerhouse: International Festival, Brooklyn, NY, November 13, 2025

Words

Karen Greenspan

Hofesh Shechter Company in “Theatre of Dreams.” Photograph by Steven Pisano

Hofesh Shechter, a darling of the UK dance scene, is a multifaceted creative force, who wears many hats—choreographer, composer, filmmaker, and artistic director of his company. He has been commissioned to create works for major companies including Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, Paris Opera Ballet, and the Royal Ballet. In addition, Shechter has received coveted awards across Europe including an OBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire—a British order of chivalry) for Services to Dance in 2018. Only a few weeks ago, New York dance audiences were treated to his evening length work “The Red Carpet” performed by the Paris Opera Ballet at City Center. And here was another opportunity to immerse in Shechter’s force field with his own company’s performance of “Theatre of Dreams.” 

The 90-minute work was a wild ride through a landscape of the subconscious—collective and personal. Like an outtake reel of every dream or fantasy you have ever had, the dance theatricalized the many unedited situations and mind states that we conjure during dream time. Contributing to the otherworldly atmosphere was the dramatic lighting design by Tom Visser with its liberal use of haze and smokey colors.

Hofesh Shechter Company in “Theatre of Dreams.” Photograph by Steven Pisano

Hofesh Shechter Company in “Theatre of Dreams.” Photograph by Steven Pisano

What was revealed and what was concealed or cut short was engineered through a playful, ingenious use of curtains and panels. These were lifted, lowered, opened, closed, tilted, and glided across—offering glimpses of experience only to cut them short like a dream suddenly dissolved at the most dramatic moment. Like doors in a fun house, panels closed and opened at various spots all over the stage—each time producing a different sized group caught in a different fantasy. 

Nakedness became a recurring theme. A topless woman in a bikini brief joyfully danced a classical ballet episode. Later, a lone male dancer walked forward in the buff. He stopped full frontal to peruse the audience before hunching forward to back away through a small opening in the curtain behind him. Eventually, a large group appeared running frantically in place, and in a liberative gesture, they tore off their shirts as they kept on moving. 

Hofesh Shechter Company in “Theatre of Dreams.” Photograph by Steven Pisano

Hofesh Shechter Company in “Theatre of Dreams.” Photograph by Steven Pisano

Of course, it would not be a Shechter piece if the live musicians were not the focal point during certain points in the choreography. So, it was not surprising when a set of curtains opened to showcase the three musicians in red-orange suits driving the high decibel acoustics.

And there was some curtain humor too—as when one dancer was pushed out of the scene’s enclosure and onto the floor. A few seconds later, the curtains opened momentarily to allow another dancer to quickly retrieve the ejected dancer and pull her back into the dream.

About halfway through the evening the musicians again came into view, singing a sultry Latin dance tune. The dancers, in their own space, formed a line swaying together and then broke into couples and a trio for partner dancing with fluid, salsa moves. Continuing the nightclub vibe, they danced right through the fake scrim toward the audience and encouraged viewers to join in the dancing (there was ample room in the theater’s set-up). And for the remainder of that dreamy number, the audience members were in the dance sharing the same dream. 

Comings and goings continued with larger groups (twelve dancers altogether) gathering steam to form a circle dance that broke into an ecstatic party scene. The hyper-energized frenzy kept building with curtains and panels opening and closing—finally climaxing to reveal… one more curtain, draped in champagne-colored luxuriant folds and set off in an ethereal light. The dance should have ended there, but it did not. And no one minded—because no one wanted this dance dream to end. 

Karen Greenspan


Karen Greenspan is a New York City-based dance journalist and frequent contributor to Natural History Magazine, Dance Tabs, Ballet Review, and Tricycle among other publications. She is also the author of Footfalls from the Land of Happiness: A Journey into the Dances of Bhutan, published in 2019.

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