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| Paris Opera Ballet in Shechter's Red Carpet Photo Chris Hardy |
Cal Performances presents
Paris Opera Ballet
Red Carpet
Zellerbach Hall
October 2nd, 2025
It may not be cool to admit that you like awards shows or awards season, but cool or not, I’m a fan. I love watching the glamorous arrivals, hearing performers chat about past and present projects, and I love the fashion. And while those ‘red-carpet’ events are certainly full of glitz and elegance, moments of unpredictability, surprise and even a little intrigue are often part of the picture.
Surprise, intrigue and the unexpected – there is no better way to describe Paris Opera Ballet in Hofesh Shechter’s Red Carpet, a North American premiere currently onstage at Cal Performances as part of their 2025-2026 dance offerings.
From the moment the curtain opened, the Zellerbach Hall audience knew they were in for a wild ride. Part concert, part rave, part community ritual, the hour-plus ballet exploded on the stage as if it had been shot out of cannon. Sequins and grandeur imbued the costuming by CHANEL. An enormous gothic chandelier hung center stage. Rhythmic house music, performed live by an onstage quartet, pulsated through the space. And Shechter’s physical vocabulary set the tonal energy and dynamic range. Arms unabashedly swung while legs sunk into wide, deep second positions. Old-school modern triplet footwork gave way to extreme spinal lay-outs. Palm splayed in ‘ta-da’ pizzaz. There was posing. Posturing. Trippy undulations. Through the combination of scenic elements, music and choreography, the space had transformed into the most untamed after party imaginable.
After the initial full cast statement (thirteen dancers in total), the mood and tone shifted drastically. The tempo slowed, the stage emptied and it suddenly felt like Red Carpet was challenging the viewer to consider their lens of observation. The level of discomfort was real and so were urgent and timely questions surrounding the notions watching and scrutiny.
A later group sequence ushered in another new atmosphere – meditative and synergistic. Seated with legs crossed, the cast reached outward with their hands and arms and then returned them to prayer center. Upper limbs gently waved like wheat in the wind, the unison movements conjuring calm, egalitarianism and a community sealing of a larger practice. As Red Carpet reached its conclusion, everyone’s outer costuming had disappeared, revealing beige-toned leotards and bicycle shorts. The glamor had been peeled away but what remained was an intensity of movement, a commitment to the task at hand and a deeply pure intention.
Red Carpet was more Dance Theater than I was expecting, and it was solid Dance Theater. Motions and phrases repeated over and over again, which in that style and genre, purposefully allows emphasis and an anesthetizing effect to exist concurrently.
It’s safe to say that the reception to Thursday’s opening was mixed. Many patrons leapt to their feet at the final blackout, clapping with enthusiasm and fervor, while others had opted to leave the auditorium far before the piece was over. I think my reaction was also mixed but maybe not to those two extremes. Generally, I really enjoyed the piece’s choreography and the company’s exemplary performance. Though there were some elements that didn’t quite add up for me. Most of the time (not always), I found the stage to be fairly dark, which I get was part of the mood. Dim lighting in a smoky bar or club, very Cabaret, the musical. But that made it challenging to actually see the CHANEL costume design, which had been billed as a major part of the production. In the final third, there was a lengthy musical interlude, which again, great score, wonderful musical performances. Clearly it served performative and functional roles, giving the dancers an opportunity to change costumes. Nonetheless, it felt out of place. Last, at over an hour, Red Carpet is lengthy. Even the ending sequence, where it was obvious that things were wrapping up, took a very long time to reach its stopping point.
