AUSTIN McCORMICK

Director | Choreographer | Producer

Austin McCormick is an American director, choreographer and producer whose genre-defying spectacles fuse opera, ballet, circus, burlesque, hospitality and immersive design into worlds of breathtaking sensuality and spectacle. With a foundation in classical ballet, modern techniques, and French Baroque court dance—honed at The Juilliard School and The Conservatory of Baroque Dance—McCormick resurrects historical art forms through an unmistakably provocative, contemporary lens.

In 2006, he founded Company XIV, a Brooklyn-based ensemble lauded for its decadently ornate, boundary-blurring productions. For nearly two decades, McCormick has helmed hits such as Nutcracker Rouge, Queen of Hearts, and Seven Sins, forging a signature style dubbed “Neo-Baroque” and Baroque Burlesque™—a lush collision of high art and hedonism.

His creations have become synonymous with opulence and invention.

The New York Times described them as:

“Kinky, sensual, remarkable, triumphant… a buoyant festival of excess and a very grown-up night out.”

TheatreMania hailed the aesthetic as:

“Marie Antoinette decadence meets Weimar-era cabaret… Euphoric. Intoxicating. Exquisite.”

Time Out New York raved:

“Feels like Moulin Rouge! for actual bohemians.”

Elle Magazine put it simply:

“Sexy. Really, really sexy.”

BlackBook Magazine called Company XIV:

“A cross-genre performance machine” built on “sex, sensuality, excess, and high drama.”

The Herald (UK) praised the troupe’s:

“Serious circus, dance and singing skills.”

The British Theatre Guide noted:

“This is a company with something to say and the brains, eloquence, and goddamn balls with which to say it.”

Forbes wrote:

“McCormick is building a new performance paradigm… a gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art… Imagination blowing.”

BroadwayWorld called his work:

“Brilliant, provocative, decadent, inventive, jaw-dropping.”

And The Huffington Post declared it:

“Amazing, beautiful, erotic… genius.”

McCormick’s home base is Théâtre XIV, a gilded pleasure palace in Brooklyn’s art-forward Bushwick district.

The Wall Street Journal writes:

“Théâtre XIV is a jewel box of glittering chandeliers, gold trim and plush velvet that suggests a Surrealist reimagining of the Moulin Rouge in Paris… one of New York’s loveliest and most over-the-top small theaters. Before the show, actors in fluorescent Marie Antoinette-style wigs and bejeweled codpieces strut around the stage and two cocktail bars, chatting and flirting with the audience. The burlesque extravaganza that follows explodes from the stage to every corner of the theater, including aerialists over the audience’s heads.”

This immersive, maximalist experience continues with Cocktail Magique, McCormick’s latest creation and sister venue—a seductive speakeasy where mixology, magic, and burlesque entwine in a hedonistic cabaret setting. A seamless extension of his theatrical world, the show has been hailed as one of New York’s most unique nightlife offerings.

Time Out New York named it “one of the city’s best magic shows”, raving:

“Cabaret chanteuses, sexy dancers, circus performers and fancy cocktails complement the prestidigitation in a cozy speakeasy environment.”

New York Theatre Guide called it:

“A feast for the eyes... one of the city’s most spectacular, fun, and unique nights out.”

And The New York Times praised its intoxicating blend of indulgence and artistry:

“The performers, gorgeously appareled, are superb and their delight is intoxicating. (So are the powerful cocktails). The emphasis was on beauty and excess, from the iris-infused gin in the Cleopatra’s Pearl to the custom corsetry and glitter pasties adorning the male and female performers.”

Beyond the performance itself, McCormick curates every facet of the experience—designing the signature libations and choreographing the flow of hospitality to heighten pleasure and presence.

Outside his Brooklyn endeavors, McCormick’s choreography has graced prestigious opera and theater stages including The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company, Theater for a New Audience and The Kennedy Center.

BroadwayWorld crowned him:

“The ringmaster of classical music’s future”
celebrating his uncanny ability to breathe provocative new life into centuries-old traditions.

McCormick has earned nominations from the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Choreography and Unique Theatrical Experience, won the Dora Mavor Moore Award, the Innovative Theatre Award and was nominated for the Jury Prize at Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera Festival.

A true auteur of erotic pageantry and theatrical splendor, Austin continues to reshape the landscape of live performance—summoning dreamlike realms where classical technique, provocative storytelling, generous hospitality, and immersive design seduce the senses and ignite the imagination.