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Michelle Brandon
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The Joyce Theater
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Parsons Dance to present two new works

by Michelle Brandon
January 2, 2013
The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Avenue (at the corner of 19th Street)
New York, NY 10011
212-242-0800
"One of the great movers of modern dance" (The New York Times) and "one of modern dance's great living dance-makers" (New York Magazine), David Parsons and Parsons Dance return to The Joyce Theater from January 15-27, 2013, with a program that includes two new works: Dawn to Dusk by David Parsons, and Black Flowers by former Parsons Dancer Katarzyna Skarpetowska.

The company will also present a family matinee program that features kid-friendly Parsons Dance classics on Saturday, January 26 at 2pm. Both programs will include David Parsons' stroboscopic masterwork Caught. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street), NYC. Tickets range in price from $10-$59. Ticket prices are subject to change. Tickets are available by phone at 212-242-0800 or online at Joyce.org.

Dawn to Dusk celebrates the diverse people and landscapes of Southern Florida. Set to the music of GRAMMY-Award winner Andrew Bird and Miami's legendary Tiempo Libre, Parsons Dance presents stunning choreography integrated with streaming high-definition footage of the dancers who also appear onstage. The backdrop fills the stage with powerful photographs by Clyde Butcher and footage captured by Blue Land Media of the dancers in four of Florida's most precious wildlife parks. Audiences will experience these locations, with their delicate ecology and unique challenges that have been preserved and protected for our use. From primitive to urban cultures and environments, David Parsons' newest work takes the audience on a journey from Dawn to Dusk.

To create Face of America Series: Spirit of South Florida, David Parsons and members of Parsons Dance traveled to Florida in November 2011 with a ten-person film crew and members of Wolf Trap's production team. They spent ten days immersed in the natural environments of Big Cypress, Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, and Everglades National Parks, overwhelmed by the diversity of the landscapes and amazed by the indigenous wildlife. The dancers and filmmakers merged these environments to capture the beauty of these parks on film, in site-specific work. Dawn to Dusk was commissioned as part of Wolf Trap's Face of America Series: Spirit of South Florida.

Katarzyna Skarpetowska, last season's guest choreographer and former Parsons' dancer, will explore her Polish roots in a World Premiere entitled Black Flowers featuring the music of Poland's greatest composer, Frédéric Chopin. Six dancers will guide the audience through a mystic lamentation and a mourning ritual in which women always appear in a universally sacred trio. Her 2012 commission proved a major hit with Joyce audiences, and was described in The New York Times as "A dance with shadows in it, mysteries . . . original . . . refreshing . . . made you think."

The program also includes David Parsons' 2005 Mozart-inspired work, Wolfgang; ensemble classic, In The End, with music by Dave Matthews Band, and David Parsons' stroboscopic masterwork, Caught.

PROGRAM A:
Tue-Wed at 7:30pm; Thu-Fri at 8pm; Sat at 2pm (Jan 19 only) & 8pm; Sun at 1pm & 5pm
Dawn to Dusk, New Work by David Parsons, Black Flowers, World Premiere by Guest Choreographer Kate Skarpetowska, Wolfgang, Caught, In the End

PROGRAM B (Family Matinee): Sat, Jan 26 at 2pm
Dawn to Dusk, New Work by David Parsons, Wolfgang, Caught, In the End

Dancers: Abby Silva Gavezzoli, Eric Bourne, Steven Vaughn, Melissa Ullom, Christina Ilisije, Jason Macdonald, Ian Spring, Elena D'Amario, Lauren Garson and apprentice Leeann Ramsey.

"Awesome dancing and a backbeat to knock it all home. Eye-popping digital effects. Excellent showbiz-savvy performers. Perpetually smoldering. Lusty, sensual movement."
-Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice

PARSONS DANCE is an internationally renowned contemporary dance company under the artistic direction of dancer/choreographer David Parsons. Parsons Dance is committed to building new audiences for contemporary dance by creating American works of extraordinary artistry that are both engaging and uplifting to audiences throughout the world. Parsons Dance tours nationally and internationally, including an annual season in its home community of New York City. Parsons Dance includes eight full-time dancers and maintains a repertory of more than 80 works choreographed by David Parsons. Since 1985, Parsons Dance has toured more than 350 cities, 35 countries, five continents and millions of audience members. Many more have seen Parsons Dance on PBS, Bravo, A&E Network and the Discovery Channel.

DAVID PARSONS (Artistic Director/Founder) has enjoyed a remarkable career as a performer, choreographer, teacher, director and producer of dance. Mr. Parsons was born near Chicago and raised in Kansas City. He 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. He is a recipient of the 2000 Dance Magazine Award, the 2001 American Choreography Award, as well as, the 2011 Dance Masters of America Award. Mr. Parsons has created more than 80 works for Parsons Dance. He has also received commissions from American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow, the Spoleto Festival and Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam, to name a few. His work has been performed by Paris Opera Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Nederlands Danse Theatre, National Ballet of Canada, Hubbard Street Dance and Batsheva Dance Company of Israel, among many others.

KATARZYNA (KATE) SKARPETOWSKA (Guest Choreographer) is a native of Warsaw, Poland. She is an alumna of the NYC High School of Performing Arts and received a BFA from The Juilliard School in May 1999 under Artistic Director Benjamin Harkarvy. In 1992, at age 15, she was the youngest cast member of the Broadway show, METRO, directed and choreographed by Janusz Jozefowicz. She was a member of The Parsons Dance Company from 1999 until 2006, The Battleworks Dance Company from 2006 until 2008 and since 2007 has been working for The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. She has had the privilege of setting the works of Lar Lubovitch, David Parsons and Robert Battle in the United States and abroad. In addition, her own choreography has been performed by Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, Hubbard Street 2 and Parsons Dance.
ANDREW BIRD (Composer) first picked up a violin at age four and proceeded to spend his formative years soaking up classical repertoire completely by ear. As a teen, Bird mastered the sounds of early jazz, country, blues and gypsy music. All these influences still percolate within Bird's brand of pop, but he has established a sound that is distinctly his own. Since 1997 the Chicago-based composer and multi-instrumentalist has released 11 albums, garnering a devoted following with his early band Bowl of Fire before venturing out with his first solo record, 2003's Weather Systems. He has played such prestigious venues as New York's Beacon Theater and Carnegie Hall, Coachella, the Austin City Limits Festival, the Hollywood Bowl and Bumbershoot. Bird has recorded with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band as well as collaborated with inventor Ian Schneller on the Sonic rboretum installation at New York's Guggenheim Museum and Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. He has documented his creative process for The New York Times, contributed music to the new Muppets movie, and composed his first film score for the movie Norman.

TIEMPO LIBRE (Composer) three-time GRAMMY-nominated Cuban music group is one the hottest young Latin bands today. Equally at home in concert halls, jazz clubs and dance venues, Tiempo Libre's Miami-based members are true modern heirs to the rich tradition of the music of their native Cuba. Classically trained at Cuba's premiere conservatories, today, the group is a hit in the U.S. and abroad, celebrated for its incendiary, joyful performances of timba, an irresistible, dance-inducing mix of high-voltage Latin jazz and the seductive rhythms of son.

BLUE LAND MEDIA (Video Production) based in Arlington, Virginia, was founded by Emmy award winning producers Joe Bruncsak and Walter Rissmeyer in 2000. BLM is a video and multimedia content producer specializing in documentary, arts, educational and non-fiction entertainment programming for broadcast and cable television and promotional and informational communications. The team joined forces specifically to pursue compelling original projects, such as their current work on Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts' signature project, Face of America. Other clients include PBS, RIF, The Foundation for the National Archives, NOAA, the U.S. Department of Defense, the FBI, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Park Foundation.

CLYDE BUTCHER (Photographer) uses powerful black and white photographs to explore his personal bond with the environment. The exquisite beauty and depth of his work draw the viewer into a relationship with nature. For more than fifty years, he has been preserving on film the untouched areas of the landscape. Clyde has been honored by the state of Florida with the highest award that can be given to a private citizen: the Artist Hall of Fame Award. He was also privileged to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Nature Photography Association and given the honor of being the 2005 Humanitarian of the Year from the International University. He has also received the 2011 Distinguished Artist Award from the Florida House in Washington DC and the Sierra Club has given him the Ansel Adams Conservation Award, which is given to a photographer who shows excellence in photography and has contributed to the public awareness of the environment.

THE JOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION, INC., a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community and its audiences since 1982. The founders, Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea, which opened as The Joyce Theater in 1982. The Joyce is named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to establish the theater. One of the only theaters built by dancers for dance, The Joyce Theater has provided an intimate and elegant New York home for more than 290 domestic and international companies. The Joyce has also commissioned more than 130 new dances since 1992. In 1996, The Joyce created Joyce SoHo, a dance center providing highly subsidized rehearsal and performance space to hundreds of dance artists. New York City public school students and teachers annually benefit from The Joyce's Dance Education Program, and adult audiences get closer to dance through pre-engagement Dance Talks and post-performance Humanities discussions. The Joyce Theater now features an annual season of approximately 48 weeks with over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 135,000.

PARSONS DANCE
The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street), NYC
January 15-27, 2013
Tue-Wed 7:30pm; Thu-Fri 8pm; Sat 2pm & 8pm; Sun 1pm & 5pm
Tickets range in price from $10-$59. Ticket prices are subject to change.
JoyceCharge: 212-242-0800, joyce.org
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