#Hofest: Hofesh Shechter tells all about his four-part dance festival

‘This is an opera, but it’s not what you might expect: the word “traditional” makes me want to burn the house down. It’s about about a man mourning for his wife and Christoph Willibald Gluck’s music brings out different colours from my choreography. There’s a lot of space for dance. Everything is stripped back.’

Royal Opera House. Mon Sep 14 - Oct 3.

'This trilogy of dance pieces is a completely different animal from anything else. I really tried to push my boundaries with it. The first is, “The Barbarians in Love”, a sci-fi piece. The second is called “The Bad”. I thought: “A piece with dancers in gold catsuits would be ridiculous”. So I got the dancers in gold catsuits. The final is “Two Completely Different Angles of the Same Fucking Thing” which is basically my life in the last year.’

Sadler’s Wells. Sep 18 - Sep 25.

‘This is performed by our apprentice company, Shechter Junior. They perform different sections of pieces including the first two pieces I ever created. We’ve really challenged the dancers physically and theatrically.’

Stratford Circus. Oct 1 and 2.

‘Fuck being modest: I think everyone has to see “Political Mother” before they die. It has 16 dancers, as well as 30 musicians onstage playing drums, guitars and strings on a structure of platforms. It is massive and noisy and most of the audience is standing up and can walk around. We have had fainters – like proper rock ’n’ roll! It engulfs you like a tsunami.’

O2 Academy Brixton, Oct 7 and 8.