{"id":1600878,"date":"2025-11-17T12:08:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1600878"},"modified":"2025-11-17T12:08:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:08:42","slug":"dance-review-hofesh-shechter-theatre-of-dreams-powerhouse-arts-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/dance-review-hofesh-shechter-theatre-of-dreams-powerhouse-arts-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Hofesh Shechter\u2019s ‘Theatre of Dreams’ Is Such a Surreal Escape"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Hofesh Shechter\u2019s Theatre of Dreams<\/em> pushes audiences into a world where choreography, sound and light blur the boundaries between conscious experience and the subconscious. STEVEN PISANO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the audience was still settling into the massive Grand Hall of Powerhouse Arts<\/a>, a former power plant in Brooklyn, a man in a blue suit walked down the aisle and onto the stage. He moved slowly, as if in a trance, and the music began just as slowly\u2014pulsing and muffled. The house lights stayed on, but the audience quickly quieted. He paused to look over his shoulder at us, then slipped between the curtains and was gone. Black out.<\/p>\n

This was how Theatre of Dreams<\/i><\/a> began. The new evening-length work, nominated for a 2025 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, is by the Israeli-born German choreographer, composer, and filmmaker Hofesh Shechter, a former member of the world-famous Batsheva Dance Company, and performed by his U.K.-based Hofesh Shechter Company as part of the new Powerhouse: International<\/a> arts festival.<\/p>\n

Here is how it continues: when the curtains peek open, the man (let\u2019s call him The Dreamer) is standing there, staring at us. Then the curtains close. When they partially open again, there\u2019s now a group of people standing there, staring at us. Black out\/close. Lights up\/open, and the group is slow-motion club dancing in a dim, hazy glow. They dip back, arms raised, and bounce to the music\u2019s steady beat, the bass so low we can feel it in our seats. From the side, hunched-over dancers cut across them like creatures of the night. The group keeps dancing like they haven\u2019t noticed, but we have. Black out.<\/p>\n

\"\"