Powerful performance explores what lies beneath

THE highlight of this weekend in Derry will be Political Mother, a performance by the dance company of Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter.

The explosive, hard rock-scored show has been acclaimed since its first performance in 2010. Its theme, of humans under pressure from the external forces of politics and society, will probably not be lost on the local audience.

For Shechter, the piece is, like its name, all about juxtaposition. “I look for a title that gives the audience a hint of what’s to come on stage and I fell in love with the conflict of the name,” he says. “The two words seem as if they should not be in such proximity. You have something intimate and warm on one side, and on the other something public that can be very cold and harsh. I was curious about how politics somehow connects to our instinct for family and for tribe, and how politics might take advantage of those instinctive feelings.”

The Derry performance of Political Mother will have a local flavour too. The company has taken up residency in the city, and recruited 20 local musicians to go along with the piece’s original musicians and dancers.

“It’s really refreshing, we’re a big family now,” says Shechter. “In a way the show is much larger now, with more musicians, so there is more sheer power to the piece. Having that mass on stage is very powerful. Doing it in a setting like Derry is a powerful thing too.”

Shechter, a native of Jerusalem, saw a certain familiarity when he first visited Derry last year. “I felt very strongly that it was very similar to the city where I was born,” he says. “There is a bit of a scar that is palpable in the air, a tension that is calmed but not resolved. You can feel there was that underneath. I found it very interesting.”

But, he adds, “Conflict is not a good thing, not a healthy thing and I feel that in the sense that Political Mother is a human-emotion piece, not a political piece. It’s about how humans behave under political pressure and other social pressures. The political pressure is a nuisance, and politics in essence creates and looks for division for definition. But art looks for connection and harmony. It feels very current to bring the work here.”

Political Mother takes place at The Venue 2013, a large concert arena. “It has a rock’n’roll feel,” says Shechter. “The audience will be standing. It’s gonna be loud and powerful and I hope people come with enthusiasm to pump the air with it. It’s in a perfect spot.”