When watching a performance, I often do the ‘watch test’. The more I check my watch, the worse the program is. It means I’m impatient and not engaged.
Therefore, I knew Parsons Dance was something special when I sat through the entire program of 6 different dances and didn’t check my watch once. I was spellbound curtain to curtain. What a joyful, fun program that an audience member near me said, “Was like being at a dance club.”
There were two premieres. David Parsons’ Ludwig opened the program, and was set to the second movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. I didn’t associate Beethoven with a romp in the park, but that was the vibe of the piece. It reminded me a lot of Paul Taylor’s iconic Esplanade, from the orange-and-red costume scheme to the famous diagonal baseball slides to the joyful running in circles. I loved it.
Parsons’ Brothers was an erotic, athletic duet for two men, set to Stravinsky’s Concertina for 12 Instruments. The two men are wearing nothing but tight black boxer briefs. Nowadays, we have seen many duets like this, but in 1982 (when Brothers premiered), this was absolutely atypical. At first, they seem like two jocks in a locker room. They playfully rib each other in the belly or bump shoulders. They end up embracing. If there’s one thing Brothers reminds me of, it’s the scene in Heated Rivalry when Shane and Ilya race each other up the stairs. Same competitive, youthful energy. Loved Joseph Cyranski and Emerson Earshaw in the duet.
Do Not Go Gentle was the other world premiere. Choreographer Mayte Natalio and composer Daniel Kluger created a compelling dance that was based on the famous Dylan Thomas poem. One of the reasons for the work’s success was the Kluger score. Kluger was responsible for the bluegrass Oklahoma! That ran on Broadway in 2019. The score for Do Not Go Gentle was a wonderful mix of bluegrass, jazz and club beats.
Fearless was actually my favorite piece of the evening. Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington made her name choreographing street and ballroom dance. Those influences were obvious in Fearless. The catchy club beats, the hip hop dance moves, colorful costumes, all made this an instant audience pleaser. One of the joys of watching this company do this sort of choreography is how well they get the beats of club music. It almost looks improvised, even though it’s not. Modern dance doesn’t have to be stuffy.
Two classics closed the program. The famous five minute Caught features a dancer jumping through the air on a dark stage. A remote-controlled strobe light captures the dancer in various freeze frame jumps. Every time the dancer is shown in a freeze frame jump, the audience goes crazy. It’s like Pavlov’s dogs. Megan Garcia Ziminski was incredible in the solo.
Nascimento Novo is another David Parsons classic. It is a tribute to Brazilian guitarist and singer Milton Nascimento. The look and feel of the piece remind me a lot of Paul Taylor’s Company B. The casual, colorful dresses, the social dance influence. The skipping, running, jiving are all very Taylor-adjacent.
In fact, a lot of Parsons Dance works seem to be Paul Taylor-lite. But you know what? That’s part of their charm. Paul Taylor was one of the modern dance masters that made modern accessible. He used catchy pop music and incorporated natural movements. It was not the cerebral arrangements of Merce Cunningham or the mythic grandeur of Martha Graham. David Parsons is making dances that give audiences a jolt of dopamine.
