Danielle Louise Bowen portrays the guest in site-specific immersive DUMBO dance journey The Circuit (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
THE CIRCUIT
Begins at Superfine restaurant
126 Front St., Brooklyn
Through September 7, $39.62-$82.20
www.nytheatrecompany.com
So let me get this straight: New York Theatre Company’s The Circuit is a site-specific immersive journey through several of DUMBO’s most spectacular locales, inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s 1920 play, La Ronde, and Max Ophüls’s classic 1950 film? I’m in! And you should be too.
Ophüls’s French adaptation begins with a new character not in the play, a master of ceremonies elegantly portrayed by Anton Walbrook. In the famous five-minute opening scene, filmed in one continuous take, the emcee walks along the streets of Vienna, telling the audience, “You can tell from the scent in the air that love is just around the corner, can’t you?” Approaching a carousel he calls “the merry-go-round of love” while revealing he is on a movie set, he says, “Love comes calling, sudden and fleeting. And they all dance to love’s same tune.” La Ronde depicts a series of couples meeting up in the city, with one person from each pas-de-deux heading off and encountering another potential romantic partner.
The Circuit: An Immersive Silent Disco Ballet reimagines La Ronde for DUMBO, taking full advantage of the area’s cobblestone passages, iconic views, and unique landscape. Audience members put on silent disco headphones, through which they hear dialogue and EDM, and follow guides who lead them from site to site using multicolored LED batons, as characters find each other, dance while engaging in various aspects of hooking up — or not — and then go on their way.
The tale of bisexual love and loneliness, betrayal and ecstasy, written by Connor Wentworth, starts with the guest (a terrific Danielle Louise Bowen, who alternates with Manatsu Aminaga), who performs a solo in a plaza before joining dancers in the Archway (swing ensemble Kaitwan Jackson, Kurt Horney, dance captain Anna Nader, and Katie Baik). Soon she becomes involved with the doll (Luke Swaller), who harbors a secret; next, the doll chances upon the almighty (Tessa Fungo), who confronts the keeper (Gigi Hausman), who happens upon the gentleman (Fabricio Seraphin), who has a rendezvous with the lover (Arzu Salman). Each couple moves to an original score by Jacob Ryan Smith and choreography by Josh Zacher, who codirects with John Kroft.
It’s part walking tour, part silent disco, part flash mob as the group makes its way among tourists, random passersby, native New Yorkers, and others going about their business, snapping pictures in and around Brooklyn Bridge Park, walking their dog, pushing their baby in a stroller, knitting on a bench, or picking up dinner. Some immediately take videos of the proceedings, some completely ignore them, and others appear to think, well, this is just another night in the city with who-knows-what going on. At one point a young woman was grooving atop a small DOT orange-and-white traffic barricade; a few of us went toward her, believing she was the next character, but it turned out she was simply having fun with friends, perhaps dancing to love’s same tune. With darkness descending, the guides use handheld colored lights and the cast’s smartphones glow, as text messages are incorporated into the plot.
The main independent elements of The Circuit — the narrative, the music, and the choreography — might not necessarily stand out on their own, but they merge beautifully in the tremendously fun and thoroughly engaging show. The title relates to making connections, between people as well as electrical devices, which essentially are running our lives in 2026. A deep connection is also made between the audience, the performers, and DUMBO itself, with a gorgeous, contemplative finale occurring under the Brooklyn Bridge.
Yes, it’s a site-specific immersive silent disco ballet, but it also has a lot of heart as it explores coming together and breaking apart in a city that can be difficult to navigate when one is alone, although love could be waiting right around the corner.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]