Parsons Dance Lifts the Spirit
By Nick Nicholas with Wes Hessel
The gold dust of magic in dance has to settle down before I can attempt to review an evening of Parsons Dance at Auditorium Theatre. An evening which energized, awed, solidly defined and redefined the sanctity of the human body in motion with thousands in attendance. David Parsons, born in Chicago, raised in Kansas City, then moved to New York City, made his first contribution to dance in 1982 from the get-go, a work he named “Caught.” It is a conceptual dance and light design, which Howell Binkley, an influential light designer with two Tony award wins, brings to life along with Parsons. The two of them founded ParsonsDance company in 1985. “Caught” is a piece of art in performance so unique, so revolutionary it advances the whole canon of dance a galaxy ahead.
David Parsons, a gymnast turned dancer, became a choreographer and invented his own dance vocabulary. He makes a dancer’s body express its power, releasing inexhaustible reserves of energy to communicate with itself and its audience. His work is a perfect balanced blend of athleticism and art interpreting the music score to a dance with technical perfection, and visually innovative movement. His artists dance alone and come together, mirror each other, and break away and come together again. The choreography is demanding, fluid and abrupt, confident and elusive, coming together to then venture alone, and come back. His dancers often take a big step back to gain momentum and take flight.
“Wolfgang,” the first piece of the evening, choreographed to Mozart’s brilliant sublime music, has the entire company of dancers take the stage, own it, and celebrate it in a dance that’s just the right amount of classical ballet. In this work, he speeds up classicism – another example of how Parsons advances the whole of the art form in dance. It is a celebration of all things dance – enjoyable, accessible, and most intriguing. Like flying dervishes, they dance this modernly rendered classical ballet with exuberant joy like the Italian tarantella, a flirtatious fast paced group folk dance, which is joyful and movement driven. It is a perfect program opener, introducing the company and what it can do, grabbing everyone’s attention promising we are in the right place at the right moment, magic has begun.
What follows in “Balance of Power” is captivating and mesmerising. Parsons choreographed this with a brilliant lighting design by Christopher Chambers – the vault keeper and guardian of Howell Binkley’s art legacy from his early passing in 2020. I imagine that balance of power is a tribute and offering to Howell, whose energy I am certain is suspended in every particle of light used to enhance colour, and define space. The dancers move intertwined, interlocked, and interconnected as if one’s body is an extension to the other’s – two in one. Performed by Zoey Anderson and Joe Cyranski, these two would seal ParsonsDance team to a gold medal in the Olympics if dance was included, and it should be, for the true athletic sport event that it actually is. Gymnasts training the body to beat, and redefine the rules of gravity if only for a moment, to witness it done, is an Olympian task. Parsons choreographed this astounding dance, which explores geometric movement in an otherwise curvilinear body, with the composer Giancarlo De Trizio present playing percussion instruments with unpredictable, unexpected changing rhythm and tempo the dancers obey and serve. Musicians hear music, painters see the painting, authors hear the words, choreographers see the dance – all before it is channeled down.
“Nascimento” the next dance, was choreographed to a song composed as a gift to Parsons from Milton Nascimento, a world renowned Brazilian singer musician famous for his multi-octave voice and unique arrangements of instruments. Parsons gives this song flesh and bones, paints it in color, and makes it a dance of a young man who unexpectedly finds the love he’s been looking for. Joined by the company, they all celebrate with quick footed uplifting footwork; it’s all taking place as if in a grammar school yard at recess, and when the bell rings, it turns serious – there’s an exam in math scheduled for the next period. So the dancers come together one by one with a heavy heart to a new reality, a life of responsibility. Parsons graciously accepted Nascimento’s gift, gave it flesh and bones with choreography, and offers it back to its creator twice as rich as when it was given. He’s a great sportsman.
After the intermission, we are ushered to “Juke” a dance by Jamar Roberts to Miles Davis’ music with a light design by Christopher Chambers, and nostalgic costume design dress by Christine Darch. It is playful and flirty in its very intimate joyful choreography. The music score has several layers, and frequent changes making it delightful to watch and partake in its goings on.
The signature Parsons and Binkley’s masterpiece “Caught” followed. It is still futurist, ultra-modern, postmodern, and avant garde, yet accessible to all. It is a brilliant conceptual art piece in dance, movement, acrobatics, music, and light. All should get the opportunity to watch and experience it, and get caught in its brilliance, which becomes everlasting.
The program ends with “Shining Star,” by Earth Wind and Fire, in a dance and sound of a generation now in their 60’s. Festive, uplifting, entertaining, vintage and current hip/hop styled dance reminiscent of a youth past and present, dreams hoped for, love explored, enjoyed and lived with a sense of value at the discotheque. ”Shining Star” made me feel that it is very possible that disco music is the body’s closest and kin rhythm of dance. Parson’s dancers are all shinning stars, who train to show us how spectacular the human body is, and what it can do. Humans have danced for millennia. It isn’t a coincidence that dance has been a ritual in sacred ceremonies, where dancers become the vessel, so they can channel the divinity of joy. The ParsonsDance night ignited, awakened, and sky rocketed all attending, an audience so diverse in age and demographics, it is clear that dance is a language we all have in common to facilitate connectivity, communication, and acceptance. What a night – we are most grateful. For future dance and other events of culture at the Auditorium Theatre, please visit www.auditoriumtheatre.org.
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