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Parsons Dance Company by Philip W. Sandstrom Feb 2-22, 2010 -- Joyce Theater, New York David Parsons must have very thick skin. In spite of the New York Times (NYT) dance critics’ efforts to pour Agent Orange on his choreography, Parsons soldiers on. The slash-and-burn reviews of his recent performances at the Joyce Theater included one by Alastair Macaulay eviscerating the program that featured “Remember Me” by saying that it “strikes me as so blatantly callow and insincere” and leveling “Caught” by noting “I have never enjoyed it less than on this occasion.” Another review by Claudia LaRocco napalmed the kids repertory program, comparing one of the dancers to a hood ornament. Presenters tell me that the exact same dances performed at the Joyce Theater in February have been presented throughout the continental U.S. to popular acclaim. So what’s with the NYT screeds? Let’s start with David Parsons the choreographer. He works in the contemporary dance idiom as a practitioner of the “popular style.” By using movement patterns drawn from the commercial dance culture of television, music videos, and dance contests, mixing them together, then filtering them through a sieve of the influence of Paul Taylor, Parsons achieves an easily understood dance format that speaks to the dance-floor amateur with aspirations to stardom. Quite simply, he designs his dances to appeal to popular taste. Or perhaps more accurately, he choreographs dances that please him. It just so happens that his dances also appeal to the ordinary dance patron who appreciates this brand of musically based contemporary dance; it’s accessible. Most importantly, these dances are supported by an emotional layer that’s sometimes thin, sometimes thick; nonetheless, this layer is a crucial element in Parsons’ success. His dances speak to people’s psyche; they speak to the child, the lover, the underdog, the exhilarated, and the forlorn. In 2009, when Parsons premiered “Remember Me”, a near evening length dance featuring the East Village Opera Company, a snippet of Deborah Jowitt’s review in the Village Voice read, “Awesome dancing and a backbeat to knock it all home. Eye-popping digital effects. Excellent showbiz-savvy performers. Perpetually smoldering. Lusty, sensual movement. Parsons enters the realm of pop spectacle with a vengeance!” During that same New York season, NYT reviewer Gia Kourlas wrote, “David Parsons returned to the Joyce Theater with a clear intention: to give the audience a boost. Mr. Parsons likes to please.”
What could have changed? Parsons has always been Parsons. His aesthetic has varied little since his first foray into the NYC choreographic scene with his short duet for himself and Laurie Eisenhower with a title that escapes me but with music by Brian Eno from his “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” album. Why the Times praise in 2009? Was it a set-up for the 2010 savaging of Parsons by other NYT staffers? Did the current staff rake Parsons over the coals because he was praised last year by a different NYT reviewer? Is there a competition that lets reviewers score more points if they trash work that was praised by the Grey Lady in previous years? Did Macaulay and LaRocco think that by whipping the portrayer of the popular, they could save the contemporary dance art form from the curse of entertainment? Perhaps I should excuse Macaulay, who could not get past the music in “Remember Me,” that is, the irreverent presentation of some of the most popular arias of all time. But his nasty remarks about the special version of “Caught” done exclusively for the benefit audience were uncalled for. It was a special program for Parsons sponsors, not the NYT. In retrospect, perhaps opening a benefit performance to critics is not the best of ideas. LaRocco, who attended a children’s matinee, found Parsons’ fare a collection of “slickly surfaced, content-thin works.” Should he be rough-surfaced and content rich for a kids show? Oh yeah, just like Disney. And in “Nascimento Novo,” she finds that ”A dance circle, typically a place for improvisation and friendly competition, here only further highlighted how hopelessly scripted this work is.” Does that mean she prefers improvisation? Does improve provide more “content”? Since when does a dance circle evoke competition? I would think cooperation would be the first order of business. In short, I’m fed up with the Times’ dance coverage. Perhaps the dance community should try to lure some of the theater critics who sometimes prefer to watch paint dry than some of the shows they are forced to review. Enough about them, let’s talk about me. What’s my take on “Remember Me”? Frankly, I prefer the original version (2009) with its complexity and nuances; the new version is too cut-and-dried, overly simplified. As for the music, I would much prefer this dance accompanied by a classic presentation of the music. The East Village Opera Company’s rock interpretation of this venerable music does the dance a disservice. For some odd reason, I found the presentation of the music harder to ignore in 2010 than in last year’s original presentation. When I finally succeeded in filtering the rock-reduced arias through a classical matrix, and began to imagine the dance performed to the music as written, I noticed how the dance and the music came together. I think deep within “Remember Me” there lies a firm connection to the classical version of the music, not the rock relocation of rhythm and beat.
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