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

Sadler’s Wells, London
November 13, 2025

Seen in London in its original form for just eight dancers (an enlarged version for more than twenty performers was created in collaboration with NDT), Sharon Eyal’s 45-minute Into the Hairy for her company, S-E-D (formerly L-E-V), depicts a strange world, one whose inhabitants are disconcertingly humanoid, but not quite human. Perhaps that’s one reason why, for all there is to admire in the work, not least the fabulous performances, I struggled to engage fully.

The movement includes plenty of the elements Eyal is known for. There’s lots of her trademark jerky twitching and walking on high demi-pointe, the later having an unusual variation in the opening scenes when the dancers move with on the toes of only one foot with the other flat. But it is a little different in that there are plenty of softer moments too, even a few very balletic-looking arabesques.

Into the Hairy is also quite complex structurally. The ensemble forms sculptural huddles. The performers frequently move as a single unit although never quite in perfect synchronicity. When they merge, they become a pulsing organism. There are also numerous moments when they move similarly but not identically, one or two shifting away from the pack. Every now and again, as one breaks away, they look at us, almost questioning what gives us the right to watch whatever they are revealing.

It’s all human, but somehow not quite human. Strong yet vulnerable. At times, there are even suggestions of soft romance. There are embraces. A couple hold each other as if in a ballroom, but the creepiness of the onlookers suggests all might not quite be what it seems. It’s far from hypnotising but the movement has an odd rhythm to it that draws you in.

The rather elegant close-fitting, black, lacy bodysuits designed by Maria Grazia Churi, recently appointed chief creative officer at Fendi, having held a similar role at Dior when the work was made, highlight every move, every twitch and roll. Noa Eyal-Behar’s make up adds another layer, her black, hollow-eye make-up giving the dancers a Gothic ghostliness that just adds to the detached, otherworldly air. It all takes place in a black void created by lighting designer Alon Cohen

For Into the Hairy, Eyal has put to one side the pounding beats of regular collaborator Ori Lichtik, instead turning to that of British electro-musician Koreless. There are percussive beats here too though, especially later in the work as things ramp up. But there’s much more besides including some delicious electro-string and synthesizer arrangements, the melodies often fading dramatically. And other sounds too, including what I swear sounded like an old fighter aircraft.

Quite what it all means, if anything, is unclear but there is something quite elemental about the whole piece. The movement appears instinctive, as though it has its roots in things deep inside the psyche, both the conscious and unconscious. A sort of exploration of the darker aspects of the self. We are getting into Freud here.

The brief poetic text that serves as a programme note is equally enigmatic but does lead us in that direction. “Deep Into the Hairy… Dirty and gentle. Broken. Alone. Alone. Alone. Alone. Deeper. Stronger. Weaker. Sadder. More alone. Hole.”

It ends unresolved. The light fades, the curtain falls. But for a few seconds Koreless’ music continues, resounding in the darkness, before it too slips away, leaving a feeling that we’ve been privy to something we perhaps should not have been.