OFF-BROADWAY REVIEW
DESIR
Reviewed by Jenny Sandman
Published 2008-09-07
South Street Seaport has been turned into a nightclub. A pretty hot one, at that. You wouldn’t know it to look at it (it’s been tucked away on the north side of the pier, behind some construction), but if you follow the signs, they will lead you to a bar, a restaurant, 60 DJs and an open-air dance tent, a really amazing view of the downtown bridges and four Olafur Eliasson waterfalls, and two hard-core cabaret acts inside the return of the Spiegeltent—Absinthe and Desir.
Like Cirque du Soleil, these two shows highlight feats of the human body. Desir, as its name might indicate, features erotic acrobatics inspired by Art Deco Paris. On a tiny circular stage not more than six feet across, 13 performers stage powerful and graceful acts using cloud swings, ropes, hula hoops, and more, accompanied by a sexy soundtrack. Picture Olympic gymnasts at a sex party (with costumes), and you’ll have a pretty good idea of Desir. The small audience is placed around the stage, within arm’s length of the stage; the intimacy of the setting only adds to the charged atmosphere.
Choreographed by John O’Connell, with music director Josh Abrahams (both of Moulin Rouge fame), the show is a visual combination of 1920s Paris and a Gustav Klimt painting. The setting and costumes are beautiful, the performers are amazing, and the gymnastics are daring and precise, but overall, the show leaves you wanting more. Perhaps this is intentional (after all, the show is based on desire), but I left feeling a little empty. The transitions weren’t very polished, and the show was basically a lot of little bits strung together thinly—there was no larger sense of story or movement.
But you won’t need a story to enjoy seeing the human body performing at its outermost limits. Go and enjoy!
Click here to buy group tickets.
