Parsons Pushes the Dance Envelope

By Rosie Scavuzzo
Staff Writer

    If the Parsons Dance Company surpasses its predecessors or contemporaries in any way, it is that its pieces are easy to swallow.  David Parsons’s choreography introduces a wide audience to the energy and athleticism of modern dance with creative and inventive pieces; mixing snappy choreography, simple yet appropriate costume, and the true magic of technical production.

    This Saturday evening’s performance at the Staller Center for the Arts began with a farcical piece “The Envelope” in which the performers were both intrigued and pitted against a “renegade piece of stationary," as the program description stated.  This was an effective choice for an opener as it allowed the audience to pick up on the humor that can be relayed through dance while introducing Parsons’ philosophy that modern dance isn’t all the tight-lipped, melodramatic stereotype, which it’s often perceived to be.  Instead, this dance was meant solely for surface-value entertainment.

    The second piece entitled “Hand Dance” was another aim to entertain, using a single light beam surrounded by darkness to illuminate the company’s hands.  A little sloppy and as simple as it seemed, it did capture some of the audience’s affections.  Though it wasn’t the highlight of the show, it was definitely creative and innovative.

    The last piece of the first act was entitled “Swing Shift," a phenomenal piece which sets up the individual’s search for identity within a variety of life situations.  This piece brought the audience through a rainbow of emotions, and while it touched on pain and separation and suffering - captured beautifully on stage, it was always sure to return from those shifts to lighter emotions and situations. Instead of ten minutes of mourning or elation, as one might expect to find in a Graham piece, Parsons captured a wider, more honest range of emotions as life often imparts.

    “Peel” caused quite a few uncomfortable stirrings and scattered muffled laughter, but ultimately once again offered the audience a piece that captured a wide range of emotions, circling around the simple notion of peeling off layers of clothing and putting them back on.  It was a piece that transcended what might be considered normal – in both life and in dance – and walked the line between reality and fantasy.  It offered farce, as dancers clearly imitated Graham’s famous “Lamentation” with their stretched t-shirts, and put Calvin Klein advertisements to shame, as the dancers romped on the stage scantily clad.

    With good-looking, athletic members of the company onstage, it would have been hard for the younger members of the audience to dislike it.  However, some of the older, more conservative members of the audience were clearly miffed, exiting the theatre with disapproving looks at the piece’s conclusion.

    What these audience members missed out on was a performance of athleticism and lighting magic.

    “Caught” consisted of a solo performer in mid-jump as the strobe light shown on and landing and jumping again when the strobe light shown off. This provided the audience with a performance of illusion as the dancer appeared to be in full flight.  While it was skillfully performed, this simple idea and hardly any choreography, gave way to the most applause for any performer in any piece that evening.

    The final piece, “In the End," brought the entire performance back to a light-hearted “dancing for the gods” feeling.  The dancers were relaxed and enjoying themselves, each having a moment in the spotlight as a sendoff solo of gratitude and thanks.  Whether it was the Dave Matthews tunes or the nature of the choreography, lighting and colorful costumes, everyone in the theatre seemed to release all tension and prepared for, well, the “End” of the show.

    Though there was something a bit amateurish about the entire company and the overall performance, as compared for example to its Paul Taylor grandpop company, there was a sure sense of youth, energy, invention, and creativity that was clear throughout the evening.  The performance was enjoyable, entertaining, and most refreshingly, the dancers were exuberant and thrilled to be up on stage performing in front of such a warm, welcoming and expectant audience.