blue…purple...green...orange…white…violet…blood. Last appearing at The Joyce Theater’s Ballet Festival in 2015, Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY has once again taken to this iconic dance stage with the world premiere of Beamish's new full-length work The Masque of the Red Death, inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe short story.
The work explores the different color palettes, moods, and social context presented in Poe’s Gothic tale, and features recorded narration by soprano Jessye Norman.
It has been suggested in other writings that The Red Death plague in this story represents human life and mortality, and that the story itself is an allegory about man's futile attempts to stave off death.
In this evocative piece, Beamish’s breathtakingly dancers truly move with a desperation and passion befitting of this theme. Their strength, agility and tirelessness show great expression through the imaginative choreography, smooth in its angularity, textured in its tranquility, and inspiring in its execution.
The music is imaginative and mostly supportive of the work, although it is sometimes a distraction. The recorded narrative’s greatest contribution is in the publicity Jessye Norman's name provides by association to the piece.
The entire evening does inspire this theater writer to attend a Beamish production again, and thoroughly recommends others do so as well.
For more information about Joshua Beamish and MOVETHECOMPANY, visit here.
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