One-time Paul Taylor dancer David Parsons is among the handful of modern dance choreographers who has been able to launch a successful company of his own.
Parsons Dance — which is now 25 years old — is in residence at The Joyce Theater in Manhattan through Feb. 21 and the company is performing a reworking of Parsons’ most ambitious piece, “Remember Me.”
The evening-length piece about a tortured romantic triangle combines dance and live music in a collaboration with the Grammy-nominated East Village Opera Company.
The storyline was created by Parsons, EVOC lead vocalists Tyley Ross and AnnMarie Milazzo.
“Remember Me” has toured the country since an earlier version was presented at the Joyce last year.
Parsons has made modern dance more accessible through the use of commissioned scores by such major musicians as Dave Matthews and Milton Nascimento.
The current residency at the Joyce includes two other programs of shorter pieces. Both programs feature the amazing solo piece, “Caught,” that Parsons created for himself when he was still with the Taylor company. Through the use of a strobe light, the short abstract dance presents us with an array of live “still” images — many of which show the dancer seemingly “caught” in mid-air — that never fail to produce a rousing audience reaction.
Program C includes “Kind of Blue,” a wonderful piece Parsons choreographed to a cut from the great Miles Davis album of that title.
Tickets for Parsons Dance start at $10 and are available at www.joyce.org
