Choreographer: Sharon Eyal
Sharon Eyal’s new work Into the Hairy is an immersive experience; more than a dance, its use of contradictions, atmospheric intensity and collective individuality creates a compelling mix of rhythmic movements that you cannot tear yourself away from.
Staged at Sadler’s Wells following a larger premiere in the Netherlands, this piece created for eight performers of the S-E-D Dance Company understands the creative alchemy that visual staging and the right music add to choreography and dance performance, and although it would be interesting to see this piece played for contrast against something else Eyal has made, this collaboration is as unsettling as it is daring.
With no ‘plot’ as such, the central tension here is between the group and the individual, a constant cohesion that moves and evolves across the stage and throughout Into the Hairy’s 45-minute running time. And Eyal gives no more explanation of the work than a few enigmatic lines of poetry, allowing this inscrutable, mysterious piece to speak for itself which it does, forcing attention with its very deliberate styling that blends achingly small, almost mechanical movements with flourishes of individuality, asking questions about the strength of the pack and its ability to support and inhibit its singular entities.
There are some clear absolutes across the dance, however, and anchor points that bring its building segments together. The dancers are always united, moving around the stage as a group and barely travelling more than a few metres away from one another at any point, meaning that even when Eyal creates a cameo or solo moment, it happens from within the pack, and the performers work as a block. Eyal also has an eye for symmetry, often creating balanced shapes through her assembly that offer pleasingly visual forms with segments of the dance created as much to pose as move and convey meaning.
The physicality that Eyal creates is also fully worked through, the dancers taking small steps on the balls of their feet but with their bodies slunk or stretched into strange positions, creating an eeriness to this ensemble. The fist is also a continual reference point, sometimes at the end of splayed arms as one performer uses their upper limbs to enclose their brethren, while at others the fist is a symbol of fear placed in the uncertain mouth of an individual stepping beyond the bounds. But it is also a sign of strength, even sexual virility, when thrust between the legs of another to convey strength.
Throughout the vision is strong and engaging, from Maria Grazia Chiuri’s laddered black lace bodysuit costumes under the aegis of Christian Dior Couture to Alon Cohen’s extraordinary monochromatic lighting that eventually turns to burnt orange and blood red, and Koreless’ fearsome soundtrack, there is deliberation in every choice. Eyal may not choose to direct the audience’s response with a detailed synopsis, yet nothing here feels like an accident or an organic experiment; every detail is designed to convey and inspire a precise, emotional and thoughtful response.
And that in the end is the core of Into the Hairy, it is full of opposites; the dancers are animalistic and elegant, the light is shadowy and strong, the tone is dramatic but soft, they are one and all.
Runs until 15 November 2025
