David Parsons Dance
On June 6th at 7 PM at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, David Parsons will be showing a mixed program of greatest hits plus his new work, Round My World. Known for his kinetic approach to dance married to a unique approach to lighting, Parsons will remind us again of his humor and his openness to a variety of musical inspirations.
Round My World, which made its fairly recent debut at the Joyce Theatre, is based on circles. Unending orbits danced to a digitalized cello solo by Zoe Keating feature six dancers emphasize the eternity of the shape and many of its possibilities within movement.
Swing Shift, a piece created in 2003 for four couples, enters the world of swing dancing, with couples maintaining partnerships within an ensemble setting. The music is catchy and the choreography captures the easy-going sensation that makes swing dance so much fun to watch and do.
Hand Dance is a humorous and creative piece of choreography for ten dancing hands. As we never see the bodies, these fingers and thumbs create a crazy variety of shapes and characters, which captivates the kid within us all. Made to the music of the Ahn Trio as arranged by Kenji Bunch, the score is just as entertaining as the dancing.
Nascimento, based on Brazil’s contemporary composer and musician, Milton Nascimento, adds spice to the program with its samba rhythms and vibrant costumes. A friend of Parsons’, Nascimento created the music for this piece as a gift to the company, and the choreography rises to the occasion, as dancers get steamy inside each note.
Caught, the ubiquitous showstopper, is here once again featuring one dancer “caught” in each flash of strobe light to seemingly hover in the air throughout the piece. If you’ve never seen it, it is highly entertaining and showcases Parsons’ unique and creative use of lighting as well as the natural buoyancy of the dancer.
For more information:
Manhattan Movement and Arts Center
248 W 60 St New York
212 787 1178
