Parsons Dance Company - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Parsons Dance is a contemporary dance

Contemporary dance

Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...

company

Dance company

A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...

founded by choreographer

Choreography

Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...

David Parsons. The company tours nationally and internationally, and includes an annual season in New York. Based in New York City, Parsons Dance was founded on July 17, 1985, by David Parsons and lighting designer Howell Binkley. Binkley won a 2006 Tony® Award for his work on the Broadway musical, “Jersey Boys.” Since its founding, Parsons Dance has toured to six continents. Parsons Dance is the only dance company in history to perform at all three Spoleto Festivals (Italy, Australia and the US) in a single season.

Parsons Dance has been seen on PBS, Bravo, A&E and the Discovery Channel. Millions watched worldwide as Parsons Dance performed live in New York’s Times Square, as part of the internationally broadcast, 24-hour Millennium New Year’s Eve celebration on December 31, 1999.

The company consists of eleven full-time dancers.It maintains a repertory of more than 70 works, twenty of which feature commissioned original scores by composers and musicians including Dave Matthews

Dave Matthews

David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...

, Michael Gordon

Michael Gordon (composer)

Michael Gordon is an American composer and co-founder of the Bang on a Can festival and ensemble. His music is associated with the genres of totalism and post-minimalism.-Early life:...

and Milton Nascimento

Milton Nascimento

-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...

. Parsons Dance has collaborated with many other artists, including Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor is an American director of theater, opera and film. Taymor's work has received many accolades from critics, and she has earned two Tony Awards out of four nominations, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, an Emmy Award and an Academy Award nomination for Original Song...

, William Ivey Long

William Ivey Long

William Ivey Long is an American costume designer for stage and film. His most notable work includes The Producers, Hairspray, Nine, Crazy for You, Grey Gardens and Young Frankenstein.-Early life and education:...

, Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz

Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer.-Early life and education:Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Leibovitz is the third of six children. She is a third-generation American whose great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants, from Central and Eastern Europe. Her father's...

, Donna Karan

Donna Karan

Donna Karan is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.-Early life:...

and Alex Katz

Alex Katz

Alex Katz is an American figurative artist associated with the Pop art movement. In particular, he is known for his paintings, sculptures, and prints and is represented by numerous galleries internationally.-Life and work:...

Company Members

Abby Silva Gavezzoli, Miquel Quinones III, Emily Daly, Ian Spring, Melissa Ullom, Maria Elena D'Amario, Sarah Braverman, Christina Ilisije, Eric Bourne, Jason Macdonald

Jason Macdonald

Jason Macdonald is a rugby union player who plays at hooker for Otago in the ITM Cup. He has previously played in the Super 14 competition for the Highlanders and Crusaders, but his career is currently on hold following a ruptured Achilles tendon.-Provincial Rugby:Macdonald is one of the...

, and Steven Vaughn.

Artistic Director

David Parsons
"Parsons Dance engages the audience with every performance," said David Parsons, co-founder and artistic director of Parsons Dance. David Parsons has won many awards, including a Dance Magazine award and the American Choreography Award. "Our dancers possess the athleticism and technical skill necessary to truly amaze audiences."

Reviews

The New York Times called David Parsons “one of the great movers of modern dance.”
New York Magazine referred to him as “one of modern dance’s great living dance-makers.”

Remember Me Review: “Awesome dancing and a backbeat to knock it all home. Eye-popping digital effects.
Excellent showbiz-savvy performers. Perpetually smoldering. Lusty, sensual movement.”
– Deborah Jowitt

Deborah Jowitt

Deborah Jowitt is an American dance critic, author, and choreographer. Her career in dance began as a performer and choreographer. Jowitt has received several awards for her work, including a Bessie for her work in dance criticism.Beginning in 1967, she wrote a weekly dance column for the Village...

, The Village Voice

Internationally acclaimed, contemporary American dance company, brings to the stage a show so athletic, entertaining and mesmerizing, that audiences barely have a chance to catch their breath. The New York Times calls Parsons Dance “humorous, fast moving and exuberant.”

Current Repertory

The company is current presenting the following performances:
Caught,
Bachiana,
Hand Dance,
Mood Swing,
Nascimento,
Nascimeno Novo,
Sleep Study,
Slow Dance,
Swing Shift,
The Envelope,
Remember Me.

Mission

Parsons dance is committed to building new audiences for contemporary dance by creating American works of extraordinary artistry that are engaging and uplifting to audiences throughout the world. The company tours regionally, nationally and internationally.

Outreach

The providing of "education and outreach programs for patrons at all levels of artistic experience" is included in the mission statement of Parsons Dance. To this end, the company offers master classes in modern dance, ballet and jazz techniques, lectures and demonstrations of repertory and/or elements of production, and workshops and seminars on nutrition, fitness and the art of dance. They also hold post-show discussions and offer the Parsons Dance Study Guide, designed in collaboration with the Ferst Center for the Arts, which serves as an educational dance resource for teachers and students.

Parsons Dance also holds an annual summer intensive dance workshop for pre-professional and professional dancers in New York City, designed to have participants work and interact with Parsons Dancers while taking classes in contemporary dance, ballet technique and Parsons repertory.

History

Since 1985, Parsons Dance has toured an average of 32 weeks per year, to a total of more than 235 cities, 30 countries, six continents and millions of audience members. Many others have seen Parsons Dance on PBS, Bravo, A&E Network, and the Discovery Channel. Millions watched Parsons Dance perform live in Times Square as part of the internationally broadcast, 24-hour Millennium New Year’s Eve celebration. In New York City, Parsons Dance has been featured at The Joyce Theater, City Center, New Victory Theater, Central Park Summerstage, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art and The World Trade Center.

External links

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