Above: from NARCISSUS; photo by Andrew Jordan
Saturday October 30th, 2021 matinee - At New York Live Arts this afternoon with Roberto Villanueva for a performance of Christopher Williams' NARCISSUS. It was a purely delightful hour, wherein the music, choreography, lighting, costumes, and the beautiful cast of dancers all combined to create a dreamworld at once quirky, erotic, and poignant.
NARCISSUS is set to Nikolai Tcherepnin's score “Narcisse et Echo” which was composed in 1911 for Michel Fokine's ballet of the same title, produced by Serge de Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes. In Mr. Williams re-imagining of the ballet, he takes a fresh look at the timeless tale of Nacissus, a young man very much taken with his own beauty. The enticing production features costume and set designs by Andrew Jordan and lighting by Joe Levasseur.
In a brief prologue, in which bouche fermée voices are heard, a group of Boeotians are silhouetted against the breaking dawn. We then meet the Oreads: a brotherhood of mountain nymphs with Spock-like ears. Dancers Casey Hess, Jack Blackmon, Alexander Olivieri, Michael Parmelee, and Logan Pedon cavort, their heavenly, nearly nude bodies adorned with fantastical red penises. For all the intimacy of their partnering, they paradoxically seem chaste. The music underscores the ecstatic feeling of these youthful males, savoring their delight in nature and in each others company. Throughout this provocative scene - and indeed, throughout the entire ballet - the choreography in superbly musical.
The music shifts with the arrival of Echo, who has both a penis and female breasts; Mac Twining plays the part handsomely. Echo is a lonely creature, and is rejected by the Oreads who hiss at him like animals. Now the Boeotians return: hetero and same sex couples of varying ages are danced by Janet Charleston, Alan Good, Ching-I Chang, Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Justin Lynch, and Jake Montanaro. They are joined by a trio of Bacchantes (Christiana Axelsen, Breckyn Drescher, and Caitlin Scranton), dressed in flame-coloured gowns, their faces painted white, their dark hair almost Medusa-like. Their dance is a highlight of the ballet. Now the music becomes tumultuous, the dancing joyous.
The Oreads re-appear, and we are only too happy to see them again; and finally we meet Narcissus himself - in the magnetic person of New York City Ballet principal dancer Taylor Stanley. Clad in a short blue tunic, his solo depicts the character's self-love.
For Narcissus has fallen in love with his own reflection: a reflection danced by Cemiyon Barber in a yellow tunic. Their duet of mutual admiration is danced in-sync; meanwhile, their shadows follow them on the wall.
Echo returns; smitten with Narcissus, his dance is a visual lament. As the music veers from powerful to eerie, he sustains a balance as if teetering on the verge. Mr. Twining excelled here. Now Narcissus and his double return; the music gets big as they fill the space with swirling leaps and mirror-image passages. They embrace, sink to the ground, their bodies communing whilst the forlorn Echo watches them in despair. Narcisssus expires; reaching under his dead idol's tunic, Echo brings forth a yellow narcissus as darkness falls.
The dancers were enthusiastically applauded; though I thought solo bows for Mssrs. Stanley, Barber, and Twining were in order, they were not forthcoming. The choreographer was warmly greeted by dancers and audience alike.
One of the many reasons I wanted to see this production was the presence in the cast of my friend Justin Lynch. Justin has danced for Amanda Selwyn, Lydia Johnson, and Nai-Ni Chen, and in 2014 he appeared in the Metropolitan Opera's controversial production of DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER. In 2010, he participated in Kokyat's photoshoot at the Secret Theater. Justn's such a handsome fellow: it was great to see him again.
~ Oberon