Austin McCormick (photo by Cristina Ramirez)

I can count on one hand the men whose talent leave me dazzled – and while they all strike a chord for different reasons they all  have one thing in common: the ability to amaze me in a way that I’ve never experienced before.  Like the first time I heard a Sondheim phrase and had to stand still, or the first time I saw Philip Seymour Hoffman perform live (in True West) and couldn’t remember to breath – that’s how I felt when I saw choreographer Austin McCormick’s Company XIV performing Le Cirque Feerique.  So dazzled was I that I went twice – and am thrilled that – just in time for Halloween – Austin will be bringing another new, dazzling  show that audiences can experience: Dénouement—A Murderous Masquerade.  I had a chance to talk with Austin McCormick about how he swirls magic together time and time again to create pure beauty.

Austin, you’re like no other choreographer I’ve ever seen. You’re the most exciting new talent I’ve had the opportunity to experience! It’s an honor to be able to interview you.  I’ve only seen one of your shows so far, Le Cirque Feerique, but my fellow THM reviewer, Dianna Martin saw Le Serpent Rouge and she was equally dazzled by your choreography, and the entire Company XIV.

At the end of the day, what compels you? What inspires you? What sparks your creativity?

Austin McCormick (photo by Cristina Ramirez)

A.M.: I am ultimately drawn to reimagining classical stories and twisting and contorting them to embody all the things I am interested in. My artistic mission is to unite music, dance, acting, and design to give audiences an incredible and involved theatrical experience. I like blurring genres, mixing and matching, it feels like our world- eclectic and messy. Art has the power to transport us to another time and place while at the same time making old stories brand new and relevant for a new generation of theatre patrons.

How do you go about bringing one of your lavish productions to life? What’s the first step that gets the production rolling?

I spend a lot of time researching for a production…. I like to come into rehearsal with a lot of ideas and jumping off points. I am always astounded at how many ideas it takes to make a compelling show. I have a fabulous design team – Zane Pihlstrom (scenery, costumes) and Gina Scherr (lighting) are great collaborators. There is a lot of coffee in planning the shows. There is also something that happens when you get the cast together in the space that is really exciting. No matter how much you conceptualize a show, it inevitably changes. It is a living, breathing thing that evolves into something that is hopefully larger and more amazing than you could have planned.

Besides amazing talent, all your dancers have a sparkling quality, a sense of mischief combined with a sense of elegance. They are all astonishing. How do you pick your dancers? What is that one quality you look for?

When I audition performers, I look for watch-ability…something that draws me to them. I don’t care about perfect technique or classical lines. I am interested in who they are and what they bring to the table. I am very interested in incorporating their strengths as performers into the productions while also pushing them in exciting new directions. I also like variety in body type…I am not necessarily interested in performers who look like traditional “dancers.”

Do you have a signature move that’s become the hallmark of every production?

I would say my signature is combining a Baroque aesthetic with contemporary movements…and let’s not forget heels and corsets, they are in most of my shows.

Being a Brooklyn gal myself – born and raised – I love that your company is based in Brooklyn. Why did you choose the location on Bond Street?

When I was still a student at Juilliard I looked around New York for the perfect headquarters to hatch this crazy company. The space in Brooklyn allows me flexibility in terms of rehearsal and performance configurations. It was really important to me that Company XIV have a consistent home in which to collaborate and create. The local community in Carroll Gardens has been extremely supportive of Company XIV especially our family friendly works. It is a wonderful place to come to work everyday. We have recently expanded and now have a costume and scenery shop down the street so, Bond Street is bustling with preparations for our upcoming productions.

When you were younger and dreamed of your future, was this how it looked to you?

I always knew that I wanted to choreograph and direct, even as I trained in classical ballet and baroque dance, I knew that I wanted to be on the other side of the spotlight. I have been extremely lucky to have the opportunity to do what I love. It’s a difficult profession and can be quite grueling. Self-producing is not the most glamorous or financially rewarding endeavor in the world but making theatre, opera, dance is what I love to do. My parents are to blame for all of this, they provided the costume box filled with capes, feather boas, and accessories that I used to make shows as a child…Company XIV is what happens when you let a kid run wild with his imagination…Thank you mom and dad.

What is the one story you’re hoping to tell that’s never been told through dance before?

This is the hardest question ever!!!!! I have a million answers…I have been working on an imagined portrait of A Day in the Life of Louis XIV…It is going to be an extravaganza of Baroque dance, opera, theatre and so much more…I am currently making a show for the DUO theatre in Manhattan opening in December that is a Baroque-Burlesque mash-up of The Nutcracker and Little Red Riding Hood for ADULTS.

I just made a Baroque murder mystery masquerade that opens just in time for Halloween at Bond St. I am dying to do a piece inspired by Dangerous Liaisons told through movement. Also, I am developing a solo show for Laura Careless (Company XIV dancer/actress) based on the archetypes in Charles Bukowski’s poetry…I better get to work…

~~~

Don’t forget to catch The Halloween Plays, a co-production of Brave New World Repertory Theatre and Company XIV, which will feature Dénouement—A Murderous Masquerade, a Neo-Baroque murder mystery extravaganza that asks: Who will be the last character left alive?! Choreographed, conceived and directed by Austin McCormick, Company XIV founder.

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

COMPANY XIV (photo by Cristina Ramirez Hirst)

Can you die from too much beauty?  Probably not.  But if you could, I came close to doing so as I watched Company XIV “A mixed media Neo-Baroque dance-theatre  company” spin  Le Cirque Féerique (The Fairy Circus) into being in front of my dazzled eyes last weekend.  The show consists of a series of fairy tales choreographed and directed by Austin McCormick, written and adapted by Austin McCormick and Jeff Takacs, and conceived by Austin McCormick and Zane Pihlstrom and runs till June 6th.

In an unassuming building on Bond Street in Brooklyn where Company XIV makes their home you will find the most unusual matrix of Music, Mystery, and Magic.  That’s right, I said Brooklyn.  And hold on to your hats, folks, because in the next few paragraphs I’m also going to say things akin to “Frog Prince”, “Madonna”, “Cinderella”, “Carmen”, and “Balloons”.  Yes – it’s THAT kind of show.

First of all, for all you scaredy cats who think you can’t haul your cookies (and your kids, and your kid’s cookies) into Brooklyn to see something unique, unusual, flirty, coquettish and fizzy-fun that still manages to be family-rated I beg you to please just shut up for a second.   Laziness like that is what led to half our youth’s addiction to video games . . . that is when they’re not washing down teenage vampire chronicles with a Justin Bieber chaser.

Company XIV (Photo Cristina Ramirez)

Second of all, this is a show that other shows WISH they could be.   Company XIV whips up a confection so delectable that there’s an actual ache when the show is over.  Like Rumpelstiltskin (whose story they don’t take on, unfortunately) McCormick and company turns straw into gold . . . and satin . . . and things that sparkle and shine and swivel and clink and pop and twirl and thump and sneer and cavort and transcend.

One half of this show fits like a classic Chanel suit that never goes out of style and the other half  fits like that next fabulously hot new phenom about to be birth from Project Runway – so trendy that they’re six minutes away from being on someone’s “five minutes ago” list.  Throw everything you ever imagined Fairy Tales could be into a blender, add a dash of peacock feathers, a shot glass of strawberry milkshake, deck everyone out in wigs, velvet, sequins, opulence, danger, bonbons, and  the essence of Vegas.  Drained it of anything that smacks of tacky and filled it back up with everything that dazzles and you’re only beginning to understand what Le Circque Féerique will do to you.

To paraphrase Lady Gaga – They Left Me Speechless.  And while we’re quoting the Queen of the Disco Stick there’s no better way to watch Little Red Riding Hood get gobbled up by the big bad wolf than to the throbbing beat of Monster (don’t worry, Moms and Dads, the song is warbled by the  Baroque Opera Trio Charities [beautifully bedecked in burgundy ball gowns] so the more salacious words are trilled so sweetly that it might as well be a song about kittens).

So, basically – beautiful dancing, check.  Amazing, mind blowing choreography by Austin McCormick – check.  Children’s favorites like Princess and The Pea (with an Indian flair), The Ugly Duckling, Cinderella (with Madonna’s Like A Prayer carrying it along  . . . right to Sinatra’s “Last Dance”), check.  A ringleader in Jeff Takacs who keeps things rolling along in the form of fast jokes, crazy sight gags, and corny tunes, check.  A trio of lovely singers who can sing Carmen as easily as they can sing top 40 hits – check.  And all those stories you think you know inside out . . . told in a way that turns them, well  . . . inside out. Check and check.

Oh, Company XIV  . . . one last Gaga quote and I’m out: I’m your biggest fan – I’ll follow you until you love me.  Please keep doing shows like this -  and I’ll keep telling everyone one I know to come see you.

Company XIV presents: Le Cirque Féerique from Austin McCormick on Vimeo.

The Company XIV ensemble consists of Marisol Cabrera, Laura Careless, Yeva Glover, Gioia Marchese, Austin McCormick, Davon Rainey and Jeff Takacs. The Charites Baroque Opera Trio includes Brooke Bryant, Brett Umlauf and Amber Youell. The design team consists of Zane Pihlstrom (Set & Costume Design) and Gina Scherr (Lighting Design). Le Cirque Féerique is sponsored by MAC Cosmetics.

~~~

Related Posts:

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