Parsons Dance Company
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| Parsons Dance Company | ||
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 Parsons Dance Company Dancers
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  New York, NY |
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| Genre(s) | Dance |
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| Years active | 1987 – present | |
| Website | Dance Company Website | |
Contents |
[edit] About the Company
Since 1987, The Parsons Dance Company has given well over 1500 performances and numerous educational and community outreach residency activities in six continents. The Company takes seriously its mission to make modern dance accessible to the widest possible audience throughout the world.
In New York City, the Company has performed at The Joyce Theater, City Center, The New Victory Theater, Central Park Summerstage, The Guggenheim Museum, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Company has performed at the Spoleto Festivals in Italy, Charleston and Melbourne, (the only company to perform at three Spoleto Festivals in a single year) and has appeared at Jacob's Pillow for six consecutive seasons. It has been presented by many distinguished theaters around the world, including Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Maison de la Danse (Lyon), Teatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro) and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, D.C.).
The Parsons Dance Company is comprised of ten full-time dancers and maintains a repertory of over 70 works (20 with commissioned scores) by Mr. Parsons. A primary goal of the Company is to allow Mr. Parsons to create as many new works as possible and to commission original musical scores and theatrical designs from leading artists as well as introducing new dances created by members of the Company.
The Company performed in NYC on New Year's Eve for Times Square 2000, the 24-hour performance marathon that celebrated the arrival of the Millennium in every time zone in the world.
The Parsons Dance Company has received public funding since 1989 from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts.
The Parsons Dance Company makes its home on the New 42nd Street right in the creative heart of New York City.
[edit] Who's who in the company
Mr. David Parsons, Artistic Director
From 1978-1987, Mr. Parsons was a leading dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, where Mr. Taylor created many roles for him in works such as Arden Court, Last Look, and Roses. In 1987, he founded the Company that bears his name with lighting designer Howell Binkley. Mr. Parsons has created over 70 works on The Parsons Dance Company, having received commissions over the years from presenters such as the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Hancher Auditorium/University of Iowa, the Spoleto Festival, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Het Muziektheater, Dance Theater Workshop and the American Dance Festival.
Mr. Parsons has also choreographed works for the Paul Taylor Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and National Ballet of Canada among others. The list of companies that have performed his works includes Paris Opera Ballet, Feld Ballets/NY, Nederlands Danse Theater, English National Ballet, Ballet National de Nancy, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Batsheva Dance Company of Israel, among many others. David Parsons choreographed and directed the dance elements for Times Square 2000, the 24-hour festivities in Times Square celebrating the turn of the Millennium, which was watched by billions of people all over the globe.
Mr. Parsons is a recipient of the 2000 Dance Magazine Award, as well as the 2001 American Choreography Award, for his work with AEROS, a production featuring the Romanian Gymnastic Federation that was featured on the Bravo Channel.
Ms. Elizabeth Koeppen, Associate Artistic Director
Ms. Koeppen was born and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she began her training with Judith Hatcher and Darlene Kelly. She continued her education at SUNY Purchase where she received her BFA under the instruction of Gayle Young, Larry Clarke, Kevin Wynn, Rosanna Seravalli and Betti-Jane Sills. Teaching credits for The Parsons Dance Company include SUNY Purchase, The Julliard School, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, The 92nd Street Y, the New Arts Festival, Baltimore School of the Arts, Peridance and Dancespace. Ms. Koeppen has staged works by Mr. Parsons on numerous companies including the Milwaukee Ballet, Dallas Black Dance Theater, Repertory Dance Theater, New York City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Louisville Ballet and Roland Petit's Ballet National de Marseille. Ms. Koeppen joined The Parsons Dance Company in 1989.
[edit] Repertory
The Envelope (12 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley; Music by Gioacchino Rossini; Costume Design by Judy Wirkula
CAUGHT (6 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting Concept by David Parsons; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley; Music by Robert Fripp
SLEEP STUDY (6 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley; Music by Flim & The BB's
UNION (9 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley; Music by John Corigliano; Costume Design by Donna Karan
THREE COURTESIES (12 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley; Music by J.S. Bach: Cello Sonata in G Major; Costume Design by William Ivey Long
BACHIANA (18 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting by Howell Binkley; Music by Johann Sebastian Bach - “Orchestral Suites”, selections; Costume Design by David C. Woolard
NASCIMENTO (18 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley; Music by Milton Nascimento; Costume Design by Santo Loquasto
FILL THE WOODS WITH LIGHT (18 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley; Music by Phil Woods, Triads; Costume Design by Katrin Naumann-Hutchinson
KIND OF BLUE (9 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting Design by Burke J. Wilmore; Music by Miles Davis - “So What”; Costume Design by Mia McSwain
MOOD SWING (20 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting Design by Howell Binkley; Music by Morton Gould – “Deriviations” and “Benny’s Gig”; Set and Costume Design by Alex Katz
STEP INTO MY DREAM (25 minutes) - Choreography by David Parsons; Lighting by Howell Binkley; Music by Billy Taylor Trio;
