Even casual readers of The Happiest Medium know that when it comes to Company XIV and Austin McCormick I am reduced to a screaming fan-girl.  I am older, of course -not a girl, so my screaming is done on the inside (most of the time), but when it comes to this neo-baroque dance ensemble everything about them makes my heart race, my temperature elevate and my eyes tear up. Every time I walk through the doors of the theatre at Bond Street I shiver with antici ————————-pation about what will greet me – for here I have seen the most dazzling pieces of multi-media theatre I have ever experienced.  EVER.

This week Company XIV has been holding a workshop where Austin McCormick, Laura Careless and guest instructors have been showing gifted dancers the Company XIV way.   I will be moderating a discussion with Austin from 1.15pm-3pm tomorrow, Friday, March 9 at the Company XIV studio at 303 Bond Street, Brooklyn. If you’re free, come on down.  If you’re busy – break your plans.  Because after you read this, you’ll want to see this man in person.

I was lucky enough to be able to sit in on the workshop Tuesday afternoon and even though I was there for hours the time flew and my mind raced as I was captivated by what I saw unfold before me.  This opportunity was like a dream come true – akin to (I can only imagine) being able to go to spring training if you love baseball.  It’s watching your idol, your hero, behind the curtain, in the process of creating magic in a way that few ever get to experience.

I wish I could spend every day with Laura Careless and Austin McCormick.  Theirs is a world so opposite of mine – the world of breathing, movement, communing with your core – yourself, your space.  My world is about sitting, observing and then writing — hoping that my words adequately translate what I’ve experienced in a way that tantalized the readers.  And even though I meet dozens of people doing what I do, and even though I am part of a community and a team, it is rare that my actual work involves anyone other than me.

For anyone who has ever seen a Company XIV show there can be no question —  there is an energy, a type of spell that falls over the space where they dance, binding performers to audience.  McCormick (who conceives, directs and choreographs all his shows) blends eroticism with beauty, each movement somehow conveying ecstasy and anguish at the same time. It’s bitter and sweet – it’s longing and loss wrapped in joy and celebration.  Every time. Every time.

Very often when you meet your heroes they are so much less in person than they are from afar. They disappoint by being less spectacular up close – less of the magical creatures  you see from your seat in the dark.  Not so the members of Company XIV. Laura Careless, Sean Gannon and Austin McCormick are gorgeous in person – and I don’t mean on the spectrum of beauty, though they have that as well.  They are gorgeous because they shine with talent, with energy, with enthusiasm for what they do, and the eagerness to share it.  They glow with vitality, they glimmer with the fire that comes from doing what you love to do, and doing it well every time. They are warm, welcoming … they capture you with their spirit in person as much as they do from the stage.

On Tuesday I took my spot and first watched Laura Careless teach a class. I see something I can hardly put into words begin to happen; her class is beautiful and smooth, with moments of sudden release,  all done in this almost reverent environment of Austin’s studio/performance space.  The ambiance is as captivating as the class, beautiful old chandeliers light the room, coupled with natural daylight streaming in through the skylight.  The class takes place amid what’s left of the Snow White show I saw just a short while ago – a silver tree, glowing orbs of light.  It is both a dramatic effect and yet completely commonplace, for this (as I said) is 303 Bond street where everything is stunning.

I watch Laura’s class – her gestures are free, gorgeous, wild.  There was falling to the floor and springing to the feet, bouncing, twirling; with movements which students were interpreting  in their own style – some open and unrestrained, some tight and precise, but somehow all fitting together and looking amazing.

Laura ended her class with a meditation, one where each student was guided to thank their body for allowing it to give so much.  This simple gesture took my breath away; we often don’t thank ourselves for our own talents, we often don’t recognize what we do for ourselves, the gift we give ourselves.   And of course this gave me a moment to silently thank these dancers for giving me so much as well; perhaps they felt my thanks, perhaps they only felt the energy that increased in the room.

There was a break, but dancers dance.  Even between dancing, they dance.  They may not even know they do it, but dancers always dance.  I love that.

Up next was Austin’s workshop and here’s where I got to watch the master at work.

I work with words.  Words are fixed and I know what to expect from them, although I am often surprised by how a subtle pairing or combination will shade the meaning, giving a nuance I didn’t expect.  I love to play with words and find that sweet spot.   Austin McCormick has something  much more amazing and organic to work with of course, and because human beings are living and breathing and moving, they can contribute to his internal vision.  Watching Austin as he watched his vision come alive was an experience I’ll never forget.

He is sure and precise but completely at ease.  This is his element, there is no hesitation, no second guessing, no frustration.  With the help of  Laura  they take the dancers through the routine slowly at first. At times it’s so exquisite that it’s like hearing a word whispered slowly in French.  Keep in mind, this isn’t a dance class, this is a true workshop: a place where ridiculously talented people are learning the XIV way.  So I shouldn’t be astonished at how quickly the dancers pick up the spellbinding choreography, but I am.

It’s wonderful to be able to see how these pieces come to life, to see Laura talk through the movements alongside Austin.  She speaks automatically and without hesitation. She says things like “on your hands, BAM!, thread your knee, roll back, extend back with arch” She speaks with as much ease and grace as Olivier recited Shakespeare … “Slip, cross, step, grab leg, bring it in, hand to face”.

While I don’t pretend to ever have been a dancer – not even a 3 year old weekend jazz/tap baby – I can’t help but think that Austin has created a language all his own.  I listen as he directs the dancers to move with words like “snippety … to the heart” There’s a deep poetry to it that would put e.e. cummings to shame.  There are words like Ninja Ladies, Picture, Open Heart, Cowabunga. I love how it sounds. I love more how it looks.  I love most how it makes me feel.

Writing this story was easy; surprisingly so – it was as if Austin McCormick, Laura Careless and Sean Gannon had gotten hold of my hands and were choreographing my fingers.  I sat alone, up high in the bleachers, like a fly on the wall, watching these dancers and letting the creativity boomerang around the room, allowing it to somehow capture me in the energy as well.  Like a medium who goes into trance, I watched for hours and when I came home later that night and read what I’d written it was like I was reading my words for the first time.  Which proves my theory.  This  ability Austin McCormick has to create magic transcends dance. It reaches out and embraces, influences, and inspires all manner of artists, be they singers, dancers, actors or writers — of fiction or of fact.

I’ll end with a snippet of a song that was being played in the studio at some point while I was there. Again, simply because dancers dance even when they aren’t dancing, I couldn’t tell if they were on a break or working out a routine.  Of course it didn’t matter … and this song will tell you why:

When I was 12 years old, my father took me to the circus, the greatest show on earth.

There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears

And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.

And as I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle

I had the feeling that something was missing.

I don’t know what, but when it was over,

I said to myself, “Is that all there is to a circus?”

Is that all there is, is that all there is

If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing

Let’s break out the booze and have a ball

If that’s all there is

~~~

I leave you once more with a reminder that tomorrow you’ll have a chance to attend the discussion I will be moderating with Austin McCormick 1.15pm-3pm on Friday, March 9 at the Company XIV studio at 303 Bond Street, Brooklyn.

See you there!

Related Posts:

• Company XIV – The Workshop You’ve All Been Waiting For …
• Nutcracker Rouge – The Way The Nutcracker Should Be
• The Fairest Of Them All: Company XIV – Snow White
• The Halloween Plays – Three Bursts Of Fire, Fear And Fantasy
• She’s Mad But She’s Magic: LOVER. MUSE. MOCKINGBIRD. WHORE

If you read THM with any frequency you already know that I am a HUGE fan of Austin McCormick and his amazing Company XIV. What comes out of the 303 Bond Street Theatre is almost impossible to describe – because how can you describe the way your life is changed, over and over again?

The Company is now taking things to the next level with their Workshop (full information after the jump) which will take place March 5-10, 2012. Space is limited so I urge you to take a look at the schedule and see if you can join Austin McCormick, Laura Careless and Sean Gannon who all made this marvelous workshop possible. During the week fantastic instructors will take you through Repertory Classes (know what it feels like to be a Company XIV member), Lucid Body Classes (open to actors as well as dancers) and Gaga Classes (no! NOT Pokerface! This is the movement language developed by Ohad Naharin).

I’m also thrilled that THM will be intimately involved in bringing this Company XIV workshop to you: I’ll be doing an exclusive two-part series on the website and you won’t want to miss it.

I’ll start off a few weeks before the workshop with an in-depth article, then I’ll follow that up with an on-the-scene report. Best of all – I’ll be moderating a panel discussion with Austin McCormick himself (Friday March 9th 1:15 – 3:00). That panel is open to the public and admission is by donation, so give what you can. You won’t want to miss hearing the man himself answering some fantastic questions – I know I can’t wait to hear what he has to say!

So, check out the information below, sign up, mark your calendars … and get ready to have the time of your life with COMPANY XIV!

Company XIV Workshop March 5th-10th, 2012 Company XIV invites you to join us for a week of workshops at our studio at 303 Bond Street, Brooklyn, New York. From March 5th-10th company members, guest teachers and Director and Choreographer Austin McCormick will introduce participants to the Company XIV movement and style through a week of classes designed to hone the specific dance, theatre and stylistic skills featured in the company’s work. Workshop Schedule Monday (March 5th) 10am-11am: Registration (Studio available for warm-up) 11:15am-12:30pm: Gaga  (Bobbi Smith) 12:30pm-1:30pm: Lunch Break 1:30pm-4:30pm: Lucid Body  (Fay Simpson) 5pm-7pm: Repertory/Creation rehearsal with Austin McCormick . Tuesday (March 6th) 9:30am-10am: Studio available for warm-up 10am-12:30pm:Lucid Body  (Fay Simpson) 12:30pm-1:30pm-Lunch Break 1:30pm-3pm: XIV Company Class  (Laura Careless) 3:30pm-7:30pm- Repertory/Creation rehearsal with Austin McCormick . Wednesday (March 7th) 10am-11am: Warm-up/ Registration for open class 11am-12:15pm- Gaga. (Bobbi Smith) 12:15pm-1:30pm: Lunch Break 1:30pm-3pm: XIV Company Class  (Laura Careless) 3:30pm-7pm: Repertory/Creation rehearsal with Austin McCormick . Thursday (March 8th) 9:30am-10am: Studio available for warm-up 10am-12:30pm:Lucid Body. (Fay Simpson) 12:30pm-1:30pm: Lunch Break 1:30pm-3:30pm: XIV Company Class  (Laura Careless) 3:30pm-7pm: Repertory/Creation rehearsal with Austin McCormick . Friday (March 9th) 10am-11am: Warm-up/ Registration for open class 11am-12:15pm: Gaga  (Doug Letheren) 12:15pm-1:15pm: Lunch Break 1:15-3pm: Interview with Austin McCormick 3:30pm-7pm: Repertory/Creation rehearsal with Austin McCormick . Saturday (March 10th) 11am-11:45am: Warm-up/Registration for open class 11:45am-1pm: Gaga. (Doug Letheren) 1pm-2pm: Lunch Break 2pm-6pm: Repertory/Creation rehearsal with Austin McCormick 7pm-8pm: Showing  (Open to public) Class descriptions   Repertory Experience a day-in-the-life of a Company XIV performer with this series of classes with Company XIV Choreographer and Director Austin McCormick! Austin will teach and coach XIV repertory and also create original choreography to give each performer an individualized and educational experience. This series of classes will result in the creation of a piece and culminate in an informal performance for invited guests. Dancers of all backgrounds and actors with a strong sense of their own physicality are encouraged to attend, and all participants must be present for the duration of every session. The Lucid Body class on Monday 3/5 is a mandatory pre-requisite for this class as Austin will be drawing upon vocabulary from the technique.   Lucid Body The Lucid Body technique (www.lucidbody.com) was created by Yale School of Drama Faculty Member and author of “The Lucid Body; A Guide for the Physical Actor” Fay Simpson as a physical training method for actors, and has been invaluable to Company XIV performers as a path to opening the body to the expression of every human potential. Based on the premise that each body holds the potential to experience every human condition, Lucid Body technique is a safe and deep psycho-physical process of introspection, exertion and mental challenge. Classes will build upon each other. The class on Monday 3/5 is a pre-requisite for the Repertory workshop.   Gaga We are honored to host Batsheva Dance Company members Bobbi Smith and Doug Letheren to teach Gaga as part of the Company XIV Workshop. Gaga is the movement language developed by Ohad Naharin throughout his work as a choreographer and Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company in Israel (www.batsheva.co.il/en/). Classes (all 1 hr 15) are offered on a single class basis, or as part of the Full Workshop schedule as the emphasis on an instinctive and individual experience of movement is a great preparation for Company XIV work.   Company Class Taught by Company XIV founding member Laura Careless, this class is both an ideal preparation for the repertory class that follows and a well-rounded class in itself. Join XIV dancers for a 1hr 45 class that combines yoga, dance technique and energy work in an approach to movement that is formally structured yet places equal emphasis on sensation. A dance background is recommended for this class, which can be attended on a single class basis as well as part of the Full Workshop schedule. With live music.   Interview and Discussion with Austin McCormick An informal discussion with Company XIV’s Founder, Director and Choreographer moderated by Karen Tortora-Lee, Editor-in-Chief and Founder of the website The Happiest Medium (www.thehappiestmedium.com). Open to the general public and entry by donation.   Class options Registration is required for ALL classes. Space is limited. (Please see below for details on how to register.)   Full Workshop: $300 All classes including participation in studio showing on Saturday 3/10   Repertory Only option: $200 All repertory workshops including pre-requisite Lucid Body class on Monday 3/5 and participation in studio showing on Saturday 3/10   Lucid Body Class Course: $65/$40 for Repertory participants 3 classes with Fay Simpson, creator of the Lucid Body technique.   Single Classes (Gaga and Company Class only): $15   Registration Please email Laura@CompanyXIV.com the following: Name Date of birth Email Phone number Headshot and resume Choice of class option (If open classes, please specify date)

Related Posts:

• Let’s Keep Dancing … At The Company XIV Workshop
• Nutcracker Rouge – The Way The Nutcracker Should Be
• The Halloween Plays – Three Bursts Of Fire, Fear And Fantasy
• The Fairest Of Them All: Company XIV – Snow White
• She’s Mad But She’s Magic: LOVER. MUSE. MOCKINGBIRD. WHORE

I’m not going to say a word.  First – take a look at this.  Then we’ll talk.

NUTCRACKER ROUGE (Extended Teaser) from Austin McCormick on Vimeo.

Just when you think that an Austin McCormick experience can’t get any more divine, any more sensual, or any more stunningly wicked, he whips up another tray of tempting treats which enthrall and delight you into a dumbfounded trance.  Ahhh, Austin.  You know what you and Company XIV have done to me.  You’ve spoiled me for every other dance company in New York City.  So yes, while others are flocking to (yawn) New York City Ballet to take in another predictable performance of George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” or pandering to Tinseltown’s “let’s get another take” and “we’ll fix that in the editing room” Black Swan – those who want the opportunity to have an amazing, mesmerizing, transcendent  night of decadence, dance and debauchery will come to 303 Bond and let their senses be delighted.

David Martinez, Michael Hodge, Laura Careless and Jeff Takacs (photo by Corey Tatarczuk)

Nutcracker Rouge begins with a party, a beautifully set table with lush libations, in a setting that’s draped and lit and designed to entrance.  If you’ve been to the 303 Bond Street theatre before you may, at first, not even recognize it, for it’s been reconfigured to create an entirely different ambiance, and that alone gives those who have been there before a little thrill of the unknown.

Soon enough the party becomes performance art as “guests” (well, the obviously best dressed guests – gorgeously costumed in designs by Zane Pihlstrom) begin to move and dance and further create the illusion.   Suddenly the audience itself become part of the story – acting as the party guests, and the beauty that surrounds you in crystal, wood, velvet and brocade is no longer just a festive pre-show reception but now the actual stage.  The experience is heightened with Gina Scherr’s dramatic lighting design that almost acts as a transporter – and suddenly, under a flurry of bubbles, the full performance space is revealed and you’re escorted to your seat by the loveliest of attendants.

This is a different Nutcracker – one for adults, where the party favors and sweets and confections are for a more developed sensibility – candy is dandy . . . liquor is quicker . . . but a blindfold, a trapeze, a whip, thigh high boots, well – that’s Nutcracker Rouge.  And they’re just getting started.

Company XIV (photo by Steven Schreiber)

Laura Careless and David Martinez (photo by Corey Tatarczuk)

Jeff Takacs as Drosselmeyer takes the reigns (some times even literally) as writer, re-imaginer and host – and leads the audience, as well as his god-daughter Marie-Claire (Laura Careless) through the Kingdom of the Sweets: a land of infinite enchantment, populated by bodies that contort in carnal splendor.  We are lead through the threesomes, foursomes and moresomes that are at once rough and delicate – the scenes that conjure and sate every configuration and predilection.    From a trio of Cherries to the duo of Licorice Boys who are deliciously decked out from their heels to their tiny black thongs and very thorough wax jobs to the sweetness of Turkish Delights, the seduction of chocolate,  the sugar plum who emerges from a cake, women who participate in a frenzied Can Can there is a constant seduction of each other – and of us.

But Nutcracker Rouge is more than just delightful naughtiness – if it were just that you could find this at any burlesque show in the downtown scene and fulfill the same desire for flirty suggestiveness.  No, served up with all this heightened erotica is Austin McCormick’s unparalleled, precise, breathtaking choreography that the exquisite dancers of Company XIV actualize with passion that is far beyond mere titillation.  McCormick and Takacs create a world of fantasy and beauty, but beneath the crisp candy-apple coating lies the definition of uncompromising excellence on the part of everyone involved, and it is this exquisiteness that will truly capture your spirit.

So, leave the kids at home** and come let your senses be dazzled by all that this world has to offer.

~~~

Related Posts:

• The Halloween Plays – Three Bursts Of Fire, Fear And Fantasy
• Not Your Father’s Circus: Le Cirque Feerique (The Fairy Circus)
• Let’s Keep Dancing … At The Company XIV Workshop
• Company XIV – The Workshop You’ve All Been Waiting For …
• The Fairest Of Them All: Company XIV – Snow White