Choreographer brings Israeli flavor to ‘Fiddler’ revival
Hofesh Schechter, a Batsheva alumnus, updates award-winning play with more athletic dance numbers
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
It isn’t surprising that Broadway’s latest revival of “Fiddler on the Roof” has an Israeli element in the classic tale of shtetl-era life in Poland.
Turns out that the choreographer of this production is Jerusalem-born Hofesh Shechter, a Batsheva Dance Company alumnus who heads his own eponymously-named troupe in London.
Born and raised in Jerusalem’s French Hill neighborhood, Shechter first began folk dancing when he was 12.
He joined Batsheva when he was 20, before moving to Paris to play drums for rock group The Human Beings. From there he went to London, where his 12-member troupe is the resident company at the Brighton Dome theater.
His first dance work, “Fragments,” is still performed by Batsheva.
In the current production of Fiddler, Shechter’s choreography is credited as being inspired by the Tony Award-winning work of the beloved Jerome Robbins, whose unforgettable dance sequences are considered integral to the award-winning play.
But the current choreography has also been noted as more athletic and raw in tone, both familiar elements of Shechter’s work. He often credits the influence of Batsheva director Ohad Naharin, his first teacher and mentor, on his own work.
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