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

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