Red Carpet

A choreographer with multiple influences, from the Jerusalem of his childhood to the Paris of his youth or London where he lives, a protean artist with a passion for music, images and film, Hofesh Shechter proposes dance that is visceral, intense and electric.
For this Palais Garnier world premiere, he has devised a whole evening not for his own company but for the Paris Opera Ballet.
These are dancers he knows well, having worked with them on the repertoire debuts of The Art of Not Looking Back in 2018 and Uprising and In your Rooms in 2022.

“A title,” says Hofesh Shechter, “is like the keyhole through which you peer and guess what a piece will look like.” His latest creation is called Red Carpet and is the first commission he has received from the Paris Opera. So everyone was looking for the red carpet on stage. In vain. Because the knotted glamour symbol of royalty, Hollywood galas, festivals and the like was by no means rolled out in the proscenium. It hung vertically, in the shape of the venerable curtain at the Palais Garnier, initially illuminated in bright red. Over the course of the performance, it performed a subtle up-and-down motion, as if Shechter wanted to wink at us, which he explains in the program: “I have to be able to fall in love with the titles of my pieces.“

The actual red carpet lay between the velvet-red …

Steeped in a revered tradition that dates to the court of Louis XIV, the stunning dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet meet the visceral and emotive choreography of UK-based Hofesh Shechter—“London’s most vital choreographer” (Time Out London)—in the North American premiere of this new, full-length work. Shechter has said that his intention here is to “celebrate the confusion between glamour and art.” A lush visual spectacle, Red Carpet employs an aesthetic that mixes glitz with grit, Baroque decadence with dance club energy. The set includes moving catwalks and a monumental chandelier, and the CHANEL-designed costumes are inspired by evening wear and cabaret. Envisioned especially for this exquisite French company, it will be performed to live music written by Shechter and his longtime collaborator Yaron Engler, a thrilling score that blends ecstatic free jazz, Mediterranean sounds, and driving techno.

Four Contemporary Choreographers by Hofesh Shechter, Palais Garnier Véronique Doisneau by Palais Garnier Un Jour Ou Deux by Palais Garnier Three ballets by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker by Palais Garnier The Seven Sins by Hofesh Shechter Swan Lakes by Hofesh Shechter