Hofesh Shechter's Orphic Dance and Circus of Resistance in Milan and Reggio Emilia

Choreographer Hofesh Shechter presents two major works in Italy: a radical staging of Gluck's "Orfée et Euridice" at La Scala in Milan and the premiere of "Show" at Teatro Ariosto in Reggio Emilia. The La Scala production, a Covent Garden staging sung in French for the first time, features an orchestra on a mobile platform at center stage, altering acoustics and perspective. Tenor Juan Diego Flórez stars as Orpheus, with Fatma Said as Amor and Christiane Karg as Euridice; Michele Mariotti conducts. Shechter co-directs with John Fulljames, infusing the opera with his signature tribal, primal dance that overflows the score, culminating in a pyre that rejects the libretto's happy ending. In Reggio Emilia, "Show" premiered as a 50-minute circus-like number performed by eight dancers from Shechter II, blending macabre noir with clowning, set to the choreographer's own score. The work parodies the state of exception, where violence and death are normalized by the spectacle society. Shechter's choreography emphasizes moments of stillness and resistance within frenetic movement, while solos explore vulnerability and negotiation with inner darkness. The article draws on philosopher Michelle Boulous Walker's "Slow Philosophy" to frame Shechter's work as an act of resistance against institutional pace, and cites clown Joe Grimaldi's maxim on death as a bizarre jest.