Narcissy Aviance (also known as Jacob Aviance; pronouns he/she/it/that) is an American performance artist, vocalist, dancer, art director, and psychotherapist, and a member of the House of Aviance, one of the prominent houses of New York City's ballroom and nightlife scene.

Born in upstate New York's Hudson Valley, he began his artistic training in theater and dance at eight years old. He trained at the Joffrey School of Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Walnut Hill, and the North Carolina School of the Arts, where she graduated with a specialized high school diploma in contemporary dance.

Narcissy was a fixture of New York nightlife in the late 1990s and early 2000s, most notably as a resident performance artist at Sound Factory with Jonathan Peters and at Avalon (formerly Limelight) with Sasha & Digweed. In 2004, he moved to Ibiza temporarily to perform at Manumission at Privilege, Amnesia, and Café Del Mar.

In 2011 and 2012, she starred in House of Mercado Entertainment's Mega Electronic Festival in Puerto Rico alongside Tiësto and Above & Beyond before an audience of over 20,000 people.

After earning a bachelor of fine arts degree in New Media Design, Narcissy worked for over a decade as a high-end corporate art director for global advertising agencies, creating visual designs and creative campaigns for clients including Intel, Sephora, Hitachi, Hilton, Wikimedia, Benefit Cosmetics, and Credit Karma.

As of 2026, Narcissy is a practicing psychotherapist specializing in Jungian depth psychology. New and upcoming artistic projects include art direction work for BE Sounds and Aviance Records and recording vocals with a variety of house music producers.

Early life and education (1980s–1990s)

Narcissy was born in upstate New York. He began dance training at eight, and by ten was studying musical theater at the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts. A teenage career in concert dance followed: the youngest member of the Figures in Flight Dance Company, touring London and Scotland and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at thirteen; a full merit summer scholarship at the Joffrey School of Ballet; attending Walnut Hill School of the Arts, where he starred as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream; Suzanne Farrell's ballet intensive at the Kennedy Center; professional training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center; and a specialized high school diploma in contemporary dance from the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Narcissy later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in New Media Design, magna cum laude, from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, trained as an actor at the American Conservatory Theater and with Marjorie Ballentine in Los Angeles, and completed a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles.

Career

Concert dance (1999–2000)

After graduating high school, Narcissy danced with the Jody Oberfelder Dance Company in Pray-cussion at New York's Vineyard Theatre and La MaMa, and was principal dancer with the Silver-Brown Dance Company, performing in the Uptown Performance Series at The Bridge, at The Here Theater, and at Spoke the Hub during Gowanus Arts Week.

House of Aviance and New York nightlife (1996–2004)

In 1996, at fifteen (using high-femme trickery!) Narcissy snuck into the Palladium in New York and saw Kevin Aviance perform at Junior Vasquez's Arena party, an experience she has described as a turning point that redirected a career from classical dance toward nightlife performance art. She moved to New York City at seventeen and was welcomed into the House of Aviance by its founder, Mother Juan Aviance. Narcissy officially began using the name Aviance in 2026, but had been a member of the house since 1999.

In 1999, he was hired by creative director Rafi Mercado as a resident performance artist at the reopened Sound Factory on West 46th Street, performing Fridays and Saturdays with DJ Jonathan Peters and appearing on the live album Revelation: S&M Party (Soundfactory Live). In the same years she was a featured performance artist at Exit, performed at Centro-Fly between sets by Hex Hector and Gonzaga, and was a regular performer at the rock-and-roll Motherfucker parties at The Roxy.

In late 1999, after auditioning on its opening night, Narcissy was hired as the lead resident performance artist at Twelve West, a weekly Tuesday party in Chelsea helmed by Nicky Siano, the legendary founder of The Gallery and one of the original DJs of Studio 54. Conceived as a revival of the Paradise Garage era, the party was beloved in the house music community, drawing regulars including Robert Clivillés, François K, and Farrah Fawcett. It was there that Willi Ninja discovered Narcissy and welcomed him into the House of Ninja for a brief period, culminating in a performance with Ninja at the Levi's Engineered Jeans launch show at Webster Hall in January 2000. She was eighteen; only years later did he come to understand the significance of that moment, rehearsing and performing with Willi Ninja, which is now one of his most treasured memories.

He performed on the Junior Vasquez Music Twilo float in the NYC Pride parade alongside Corvette Aviance, and danced in Kevin Aviance's production for Victor Calderone's Deep Dark Jungle at Hammerstein Ballroom. At Avalon, the former Limelight, he was resident performer and host as well as art director, handling choreography, costume design, stage direction, and the club's advertising, staged a New Year's Eve event with Sasha & Digweed and performed with Dave Audé and DJ Micro.

Nightlife management and early design work (2000–2004)

While performing at night, Narcissy worked by day as an assistant to nightlife legend Steve Lewis at David Marvisi's Azure Nightclub Corporation, whose venues included Spa, Plaid, Exit, and Capitale. His responsibilities spanned the full machinery of the clubs: guest list and table management, bar staff scheduling, hiring and payroll, event design, and the graphic design of the weekly invitations, flyers, and posters for the venues' high-profile events (pre-social media, all of it printed). Her design career began to expand to other clients including Centro-Fly, Def Mix, David Morales, Erick Morillo's Subliminal Sessions, Instinct Magazine, and HX Magazine. The period also included giving a guest lecture at Princeton University on rave culture for the course Social Dance Through the Ages.

Modeling (1999–2005)

Alongside his performance work, Narcissy maintained a modeling career in New York. She appeared in an editorial shoot for Time Out New York magazine, walked runways for Levi's Engineered Jeans, Conquete, SchavoirFaire, and MiniMini Market, and appeared in the printed catalog of Moresca, the legendary medieval couture house. He also worked as a fashion illustration model at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Ibiza and Hollywood (2004–2005)

In 2004 he relocated to Ibiza, performing at Café Del Mar with live drummers, as guest performance artist at La Troya Asesina at Amnesia, and at Manumission at Privilege, then the largest nightclub in the world. MTV España's Hot filmed his performances and an interview on the Ibiza–New York connection. The following year she performed at Avalon Hollywood with Peter Rauhofer and Alexis Arquette at Gay Pride and with Hex Hector, and directed dancers for the monthly KEN circuit party.

Mega Electronic Festival (2011–2012)

Former Sound Factory creative director Rafi Mercado invited Narcissy back to the stage as lead performer at Puerto Rico's Mega Electronic Festival at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, starring in an elaborate psychedelic techno-theater production built around the Cotorra, a parrot spirit of the Caribbean.

The 2011 edition featured Axwell, Benny Benassi, Sub Focus, Riva Starr, and Adam Freeland; the 2012 edition, before an audience of some twenty thousand, featured Tiësto, Above & Beyond, Knife Party, Chase & Status, Martin Solveig, and Fedde Le Grand.

During this time, Narcissy designed the visual brand identity, logo, and website for House of Mercado Entertainment, a.k.a. NO SHOW LIKE HOME.

Narcissy considers these shows his crowning achievement as a performance artist and semi-retired afterwards for several years to focus on other pursuits.

Film and television (2004–present)

Narcissy appeared on MTV España's Hot, filmed in Ibiza, and in Jonny McGovern's music video Gayest of All Time. Film credits include the shorts Flesh, Shelter (lead), Comedown and Burnpad (both also as writer), Stand by Her, and Heading Down South, and the features August Falls and Terror Toons 4.

Visual design and art direction (2007–present)

In San Francisco, Narcissy built a second career as a serious graphic designer and art director, with work for the National Park Service (the Muir Woods Centennial), the Wikimedia Foundation, Sephora, Hilton Worldwide, and, as art director at MRM Worldwide/McCann Erickson, Intel, General Motors, Hitachi, and Hewlett-Packard. She received an honorable mention at the International Photography Awards and the Academy of Art University Spring Show award for print and typography, and exhibited in the Design in Parks program at Alcatraz. He also worked as an early product designer for Credit Karma, OkCupid, and Match.com.

Music (2023–present)

Jacob Aviance began releasing music under the name Narcissy in 2023.

He has recorded house music vocals in collaboration with producer Bashar on the New York label BE Sounds. The debut single, "I Don't Care" (Bashar feat. Narcissy), was released with remixes by Eddie Baez and Eddie Mezz, followed by "The Rounds" (Bashar & Narcissy) and "Psychonaughty" (Bashar feat. Narcissy). New projects are underway with several collaborators.

Psychotherapy (2020–present)

Narcissy holds a master's degree in clinical psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles and currently practices as a psychotherapist, with a focus on Jungian depth psychology, dreamwork, and archetypal psychology.

Influences

Narcissy has cited Junior Vasquez's Arena party at the Palladium (1996–1997) and Kevin Aviance's performances as the decisive influence on his shift from classical dance to nightlife performance art, and Mother Juan Aviance and the House of Aviance as a formative artistic family. Narcissy's early performing life intersected with Nita Aviance, Erickatoure Aviance, Willi Ninja and the House of Ninja, Jonathan Peters, Junior Vasquez, Peter Rauhofer, and Victor Calderone.

Narcissy's unique dance style draws from Alvin Ailey, the Balanchine and Vaganova schools, and the modern techniques of Horton, Graham, Limón, Cunningham, and Nikolais. She also cites master drama teacher Marjorie Ballentine, who trained him in the Stella Adler tradition, as a major influence on her theatrical technique.

In psychology, his orientation is shaped by Carl Jung's depth psychology and the study of archetypes.

Personal life

Narcissy uses the pronouns he, she, that and it interchangeably and enjoys being objectified. He has lived in New York City, Ibiza, and San Francisco, and is currently based in West Hollywood, California, where he lives across the street from Liza Minnelli (no joke).