Invited Choreographers

For each grade, the Performance strand of the syllabus includes learning a solo from one of our invited choreographers. We are delighted to be working together with influential contemporary dance makers Hofesh Shechter and Alesandra Seutin who have each created eight stunning solos for the Rambert Grades syllabus. We also have a pathway in development with Rambert Artistic Director, Benoit Swan Pouffer.

Every one of our Syllabus Training programmes includes training in one of these performance pathways, and members also have the opportunity to add a second choreographer’s pathway to their training as a bolt-on.

Hofesh Shechter

Shechter was born in Jerusalem and studied at the Jerusalem Academy for Dance and Music, graduating into the Batsheva Dance Company. He studied drum and percussion in Tel Aviv and Paris and moved to the UK in 2002. His choreographic debut, Fragments (2003), led to a commission from The Place Prize to create Cult (2004, Audience Choice Award). Shechter was an Associate Artist of The Place 2004–06, where his works included Uprising (2006). In your rooms (2008), a commission from The Place, Southbank Centre and Sadler’s Wells, was nominated for a Southbank Show Award and won the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Choreography (modern). He formed the Hofesh Shechter Company in 2008.

Shechter has also worked as a choreographer in theatre, television and opera, with engagements including Simon Stephens’s Motortown (2006) and The Arsonists (2007) for the Royal Court, Saint Joan (2007) for the National Theatre and Fiddler on the Roof (2015) on broadway.

Alesandra Seutin

Alesandra Seutin is an International performer, choreographer, dramaturg and teacher. The daughter to South African and Belgian parents, Alesandra was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. She grew up in Brussels and now lives in London.

Alesandra founded Vocab Dance in 2007 and has built an international reputation for creating thought provoking and visually striking performances. Her creativity is triggered by issues that address and reflect social, political and economic circumstances and with movement, voice and music, she shares stories that induce conversations. Past company productions have toured around the UK, Europe, Canada, West/South/East Africa and Brazil. Current works include Giant and a new group work Boy Breaking Glass, which premiered as part of Reckonings at Sadler’s Wells, London in October 2018.

Alesandra will be Guest Artistic Director for the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) 2020-21.

Benoit Swan Pouffer

Benoit Swan Pouffer is the Artistic Director of Rambert and an internationally renowned dance artist and company leader.

Born and trained in Paris, he moved to New York where he spent seven years as a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He went on to become the Artistic Director of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, a post he held for 10 years. As a choreographer Benoit has made dance for companies around the world including Ailey2 and Rambert’s early career ensemble Rambert2, feature films, music videos, and Broadway shows. Recently, he directed Note To Self for Rambert, the last of a 2021 series of innovative livestreamed dance works performed, filmed and broadcast in real time on Rambert Home Studio to fans around the world. He will be directing and choreographing the upcoming Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby for Rambert premiering later this year in the summer of 2022.

Benoit’s Performance Pathway for Rambert Grades is in development.