S-E-D/Sharon Eyal, Into the Hairy

"Full disclosure: I don't know what Into the Hairy means, and recently asked about it, choreographer Sharon Eyal showed no inclination to provide an explanation. The programme includes a quote: Deep Into the Hairy Dirty and gentle. Broken. Alone. Alone. Alone, but that doesn't really help. Mercifully brief at 45-minutes, Into the Hairy premiered in France, where the Israeli choreographer is now based, in 2023, and was performed by seven members of her S-E-D (Sharon Eyal Dance) company."

"The work was subsequently extended and enlarged for the massed ranks of S-E-D and Nederlands Dans Theater earlier this year. NDT's programme, however, also omits to explain the meaning of the title. By way of enlightenment it speaks simply of an evocative, unsettling, and dystopian journey. Sharon Eyal, Into the Hairy. Photo: Katerina Jebb I may not know what it means, but I know what it is and that's very much Sharon Eyal, only perhaps, a little mellower"

"The softness is partly due to her choice of soundtrack for Into the Hairy: whereas previous works tended to rely on the loud percussion and ear-splitting bombast of her regular collaborator, composer Ori Lichtik, Into the Hairy marks the first collaboration between Sharon Eyal and the London-based artist, producer and composer Koreless (aka Lewis Roberts). His essentially minimalist music has a liquid quality that's quite pleasant to the ear. The Eyal quirks are all present and correct."

Into the Hairy is a 45-minute work that premiered in France in 2023 and was performed by seven members of S-E-D before being enlarged for Nederlands Dans Theater. The title is left unexplained; the programme calls the piece an evocative, unsettling, dystopian journey. The piece has a softer tone compared with earlier Eyal works such as Killer Pig (2009) and OCD Love (2015), partly due to a new collaboration with Koreless, whose minimalist, liquid music contrasts with previous loud percussion by Ori Lichtik. The staging opens in darkness with dripping water, Alon Cohen's twilight lighting, a signature huddle of dancers, and costumes by Maria Grazia Chiuri for Christian Dior Couture.

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