Living & Arts

Group lights up the stage

In print | November 1, 2007

Last Friday, Oct. 19, the David Parsons Dance Company performed in the Pearson-Hall Theater in the Lang Performing Ats Center. Sponsored by the William J. Cooper Foundation and the Department of Music and Dance, the performance highlighted the work of the company under founder and artistic director David Parsons.

Parsons Dance Company, which tours both nationally and internationally, consists of 10 full-time dancers hailing from all over the world. The company is dedicated to building new audiences for contemporary dance through extraordinary American works. Aside from the company’s outstanding reputation for choreography and performance, Parsons Dance provides student performances, lecture demonstrations, master classes, post-show discussions and many other events to positively impact children, students and communities.

The show opened with “Closure”, a piece commissioned by the Repertory Dance Theater in honor of the State of Utah’s centennial celebration. Originally by Tony Powell, the music score featured fast-paced synthesizer and organ sounds. Highlighted by spotlights, the dancers moved in circles and unified routines to the harmonious and occasionally dissonant music. The piece ended with several blinding flashes of light. The second piece, “Hand Dance,” featured five company members and a musical arrangement by Kenji Bunch consisting of a piano and strings. On the completely darkened stage, the dancer’s hands were the only thing visible to the audience and were illuminated by front spotlights. Eliciting “oohs” and “ahhs” and appreciative applause from the audience, the dancers’ hands replicated piano fingers as well as other shapes and forms.

A much longer piece, “Nascimento Novo” concluded the first half of the performance. With music by Brazilian composer Milton Nascimento, Parsons Dance Vice President Stephen Morris commissioned the piece in honor of his wife on her 60th birthday. “Nascimento Novo” had several sections characterized by sunset yellow, orange, fuscia, dark blue and green lighting with each color symbolizing a different concept. This exciting and innovative piece ended with the dancers clapping and sitting on the floor one by one.

In the last half of the performance, the dancers dazzled the audience with “Kind of Blue,” “Caught” and “In The End”.

Choreographed to “So What” by Miles Davis, “Kind of Blue” was commissioned by the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy where it premiered in 2001. This piece is a tribute to jazz great Miles Davis and features music from “Kind of Blue”, the best-selling jazz album of all time.

With music by Robert Fripp, “Caught” featured a solo dancer performing leaps across the stage and impressive choreography interspersed by strobe lighting. The lighting gave the impression that the dancer was walking through the air and leaping without touching the ground.

Jessica Barajas ’10 said, “I was impressed by the performance, especially the solo piece that gave the illusion of the dancer flying through the air.”

Finally, Parsons Dance performed the fast-paced and high-energy piece, “In The End.” With music by the popular Dave Matthews Band, “In The End” consisted of solos, duets, small groups, lifts, jumps and turns. This intense piece highlighted the virtuosity and talents of all of the company’s dancers.

Eva Amesse ’11, currently enrolled in the Modern Dance II class and also a member of Rhythm ’N Motion, said, “I was truly inspired by the energy of the company members.”

Amesse said she was glad that Swarthmore invites such talented professionals to perform.

Erin Floyd ’10 said, “The performance was amazing. The dancers had so much energy; you could see their passion for dance in every movement.”

That was a sentiment that was echoed by the audience, which gave the dance group a standing ovation.