Shechter II: Contemporary Dance 2.0 review – young steppers pulse to a clubby score

The dancers themselves look as if they’re in a trance state: Contemporary Dance 2.0. Photograph: Tom Visser

Hofesh Shechter’s dance always gives way to darkness at some point. You may start with a hand-scrawled sign saying “Part I, Pop”, and self-possessed performers channelling music-video vibes, looking us straight in the eye as bodies wind and pump and pop. But inevitably 10 minutes later half the dancers are flogging the other half, bodies fallen to the ground. Such is life in Shechter’s world.

Alongside the darkness comes playful cynicism – including about Shechter’s own art form – anarchic energy, humour, and a whiff of the Peggy Lee line: if that’s all there is, my friends, then let’s keep dancing. All these are in the mix in Contemporary Dance 2.0, a reboot of a piece Shechter made in 2019 for Sweden’s GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, reworked for Shechter II, his own junior company of dancers aged 18-25. It’s a strong, hardworking group, pummelling the accents of the choreography for 55 minutes to Shechter’s own clubby score.