A dynamic, worldly company known for its accomplished performers and international tours, Parsons Dance returns to the Berkshires on July 16-17 to perform at The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. This time, they bring special attention to music as a catalyst for choreographic vision and intention. Parsons Dance will perform at The Mahaiwe on Saturday, July 16 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, July 17 at 1 p.m. Tickets are available here.
This will be Parsons Dance’s second time performing at The Mahaiwe, but the first time with their own unique bill. Parson’s Dance first performed on The Mahaiwe stage in 2015 with Close Encounters with Music.
Parsons Dance was founded by David Parsons, choreographer and artistic director, and the late Howell Binkley, Tony Award-winning lighting designer. The pair developed Parsons Dance to uphold the clarity and beauty of a purely choreographic vision of American contemporary dance with lights and music in tandem; no sets or props (mostly) to distract from the choreographic intent of the company. Parsons shared that he is excited for his company to be performing at The Mahaiwe for the history the theater holds and for the friendship he has with Paul Jaffe, son of the late Lola Jaffe, who founded and resurrected The Mahaiwe to its thriving state.
The program for July 16-17 has a striking emphasis on music as a driving force for choreographic inspiration, which will take the audience on a musical journey.
To open the performance, “Kind of Blue” will be a distinct celebration of jazz. With music by acclaimed American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, “Kind of Blue” leans into the structure and embodiment of jazz music and dance, with a key emphasis on improvisation, thereby making “Kind of Blue” a piece that is never performed the same way twice. David Parsons said, “They become so free [when improvising]…Improvisation is powerful. We like to use it, but we don’t like to abuse it.” Parsons has spent much of his career working with and learning from jazz musicians and studying Black influence on jazz music, especially on his tours and residencies in Europe, to develop the finely attuned skill of improvisation.
“Balance of Power” is a solo originally created on Zoey Anderson with percussionist Giancarlo De Trizio. The trio (Parsons, Anderson, and De Trizio) worked together to create the solo in real-time. Parsons shared that “[i]t is a study on exact movement to exact sound.” Every movement Anderson made was set to a specific drum sound. “Balance of Power” is also based on the concept of Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero.” Both “Bolero” and “Balance of Power” start slow and quiet and end fast and loud in a cacophony of sound and movement.
Third on the program is “Nascimento,” which means “birth” in Portuguese and is named after the piece’s Brazilian composer Milton Nascimento. “Nascimento” came about after a dance festival and competition in Brazil in which Parsons Dance was participating. After the festival, the audience voted for one of the companies to win an 8-city tour of Brazil. Parsons Dance won and Milton Nascimento generously offered to compose a piece for the company. As a gesture of gratitude, Parsons named the choreographed piece after the composer.
“The Envelope” was choreographed by Parsons when he was in his early 20s, still dancing in the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Parsons was walking down a street in Chelsea in the 1980s before the digital age and observed the vast amount of “paper pushing” going on in New York City, which inspired the comedic creation and storytelling of “The Envelope.” Paul Taylor helped Parsons with the musical score for “The Envelope” and connected him to a colleague in Paris to tackle the artistic challenge of choreographing comedy. Parsons explained that “Comedy is very difficult. That’s why you don’t see a lot of choreographers doing it. It’s very risky. It puts you out there and shows who you are.” “The Envelope,” which contains 22 cuts of music from composer Gioachino Rossini, has been performed by 65 companies worldwide and with live music by the likes of the Israeli Philharmonic and at the Paris Opera.
Fifth on the program is “Caught,” with music by guitarist Robert Fripp. “Caught” exemplifies the company’s detailed attention to and appreciation of lighting design through utilizing the effects of strobe lights to create the illusion that the solo dancer appears to be floating on stage. The impression of floating is heightened by the physical feat of the 100 jumps in a mere five minutes that the soloist performs.
To conclude the evening, “The Road,” choreographed recently during the pandemic, is a message of youth, a child’s curiosity, vulnerability, and innocence. “The Road” is also about a journey with the timeless lyrics of music by Yusuf/Cat Stevens fueling the context of the work.
Parsons Dance will electrify and invigorate audiences with joyous athleticism and refined—yet unquestionably human—artistry.
