Hofesh Shechter Company: Jerwood x SII - Continued Professional Development offer

In this partnership announced on the 11 November 2025, Jerwood Foundation has continued its support of Hofesh Shechter Company, through awarding a total grant of £80,000 over two years to fund Jerwood x SII, a continued professional development offer to eight exceptional contemporary dancers selected as part of Shechter II 2026.

Piloted in 2018 and run every two years since, Shechter II is the only paid, professional artist development programme of its kind for emerging contemporary dancers in the UK. This programme provides transformative, paid opportunities for exceptional, early-career dancers (aged 18-25) to train, create and tour within Hofesh Shechter’s professional contemporary dance company.

As part of Shechter II 2026, Jerwood Foundation has renewed its commitment to fund Jerwood x SII, a continued professional development offer to the selected eight dancers that supports their growth by providing health and well-being, workshop leadership training, and self-directed research and development. It also includes a week of creation with a guest choreographer, self-promotion and an expanded dance science strand delivered with The Place, London. Developed through longitudinal research at London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS) and The Place, the programme shares principles of health, wellbeing, and professional growth reflecting a shared commitment to innovation and best practice in supporting the next generation of dance artists.

The exceptional eight dancers selected for Shechter II 2026 are Matilde Agostinone (Italy), Nagga Baldina (Italy), Teige Bisnought (UK), Federica Fantuzi (Italy), Woojin Kwon (South Korea), Armand Lassus (France), Skiye Nataliah (UK) and Ella Roberts (UK). These inspiring eight dancers will create, perform and tour Shechter’s compelling new work IN THE BRAIN as well as benefitting from Jerwood x SII which will be interwoven throughout their programme.

Lara Wardle Executive Director and Trustee Jerwood Foundation said:

Embarking on this renewed partnership, underlines Jerwood’s commitment to supporting excellence as well as exceptional emerging arts practitioners. I am delighted that this grant will enable Jerwood x SII, a continued professional development offer for eight young dancers as part of this unique and transformational paid professional experience with a boundary-breaking contemporary dance company.

Colette Hansford, Executive Producer, Hofesh Shechter Company said:

We are thrilled that Jerwood Foundation is renewing its commitment to funding the continued professional development offer to our young company Shechter II and supporting the dancers’ training and growth as industry-ready professionals. Major shifts in the landscape such as COVID, the decline of arts in education, Brexit and so on, have emphasised the need for programmes such Jerwood x SII. Developing exceptional, rounded dance artists who understand their ‘voice’, their craft, their own body and are equipped with the skills and tools to sustain mental and physical resilience is so important to launching long, healthy and fulfilling careers. Young artists need to have a proximity to the professional arena, in a supported way, to achieve this, and we are extremely proud of Shechter II and the evolving programme that, with invaluable support from partners like Jerwood Foundation, is carefully designed to meet young artists’ needs in a changing world.

IN THE BRAIN will have its world premiere at Dampftzentrale, Bern as part of Migros Culture Percentage’s Dance Festival, Steps, in March 2026, and will tour extensively across Europe and the UK, with dates including Manchester, Leeds, York and London, before opening at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall from 22 -25 July 2026, as part of the venue’s landmark 75th anniversary celebrations.

For further information please visit Hofesh Shechter Company.