Daniil Simkin is nothing if not industrious. If he’s not traveling the world performing as an international guest artist (he was recently dancing Nutcracker in Kazakhstan), he’s producing new creative projects. His most recent, Sons of Echo, premieres January 14–25 at New York City’s Joyce Theater, and features a cast of all-male ballet stars performing new or reimagined works choreographed exclusively by women. Principal dancers Siphesihle November (National Ballet of Canada), Jeffrey Cirio (Boston Ballet), Osiel Gouneo (Bavarian State Ballet), and Alban Lendorf (Royal Danish Ballet) will join Simkin onstage in works by Lucinda Childs, Drew Jacoby, Anne Plamondon, and Tiler Peck.
Simkin began percolating the idea in 2022. “I wanted to create a program where I could share the stage with my friends and colleagues,” Simkin says in a phone interview. “At the same time I wanted to explore what it means to be a good man. What is positive masculinity in our day and time right now?” Through development conversations with his girlfriend and programmers from The Joyce Theater, Simkin and The Joyce decided to feature works specifically by women.
“In order to understand and explore questions about what is good masculinity, the other side needs to be brought in and needs to have a very important part of the process,” he says. “Exploring this through the female gaze, I believe, gives the whole project more meaning.”
The program takes its name from Echo, a nymph from Greek mythology cursed by the goddess Hera to only repeat the words of others. In an Instagram post, Canadian choreographer Anne Plamondon shared that Simkin wanted to show a different side of men, from Echo’s perspective of being forced to “reflect rather than originate”: “It suggests men who listen rather than assert, who embody movement rather than command it, who reflect and receive rather than dominate.”
Simkin adds that his cast of dancers are more than just friends; they embody what he feels makes a good man. “I respect them on both a professional and human level. They’re men I look up to, who I think are better than me in certain aspects and who help me strive.”
All of the pieces in Sons of Echo ask the men to tap more deeply into their vulnerability. The program includes a world premiere duet by Plamondon, which Simkin describes as “gooey and very contemporary,” as well as Jack, a stylistically eclectic quartet from 2019 by former Royal Ballet of Flanders principal Drew Jacoby. “It’s an exploration of her idea of masculinity, as well as—from where I stand—objectification. Which is interesting, because usually women are subjected to objectification through the male gaze,” Simkin says.
The program also features Notes, a suite of duets and trios by postmodern choreographer Lucinda Childs from her longer work Notes of Longing, to music by Matteo Myderwyk. The work, originally made on male–female partners, takes on new life as same-sex duets. The show also includes a world premiere by New York City Ballet principal Tiler Peck, to a song by Gregory Porter. “It’s joyful and very musical—I think it will be a crowd-pleaser,” says Simkin.
Coordinating the schedules of so many international artists has proved challenging, of course. Peck choreographed her work over nine days in New York City last June. Then, dancers, choreographers, and stagers regrouped in August for a two-week creative residency at Orsolina28 Art Foundation, in northwestern Italy. “We had very long days, where we’d just get up, eat breakfast, and get right to work,” Simkin says. The cast returned to New York in January for a final week of rehearsals.
Simkin, who hopes Sons of Echo will tour in the future, admits that he’s never worked with this many female choreographers at once. “Discourse with the other, whatever that ‘other’ is, is important; I can’t only follow my own manifesto or intention and stay humble and vulnerable,” he says. “Hopefully this program adds to the cultural conversation.”
The post Sons of Echo, Daniil Simkin’s New Project, Explores Masculinity Through the Female Gaze appeared first on Pointe Magazine.