Parsons Dance Closes Out Park City Institute 2018-19 Main Stage Season

Park City Institute presents award-winning contemporary dance company, PARSONS DANCE, this Saturday, March 30th, at 7:30 pm. The show is the final performance in PCI's 2018-19 Main Stage Season at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Center for the Performing Arts, in Park City.

"We are thrilled to welcome back Parsons Dance to our stage," said PCI Executive Director Teri Orr. "Every time this legendary company brings its energetic and modern style to the Eccles Center, it is a cause for celebration."

The show will feature a mix of classic works from the Parsons Dance repertoire, as well as a 2018 piece by David Parsons, "Microburst," with an original score commissioned from Avirodh Sharma - Tabla. They will also perform "Eight Women," commissioned this year from Trey McIntyre, and featuring the music of Aretha Franklin.

The company includes Utah native, Zoey Anderson, who has been a member of Parsons Dance since 2015. Anderson has also performed in the Broadway premiere gala of On the Town, on numerous Dancing with the Stars webisodes, and Macy's Passport Tour with P. Diddy. She was nominated for the Outstanding Performer Bessie Ward for her sustained achievement in Parsons Dance in 2018, and is the recipient of the 2019 Clive Barnes Dane Artist Award.

PARSONS DANCE is a New York City based contemporary American dance company, internationally renowned for its energized, athletic ensemble work. Founded in 1985 by Artistic Director David Parsons and Tony Award-winning lighting designer Howell Binkley, the company has toured to more than 447 cities, 30 countries, and 5 continents and has appeared at such notable venues as The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Sydney Opera House, Maison de la Danse, Teatro La Fenice, and Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro.

David Parsons (Artistic Director/Co­Founder) has enjoyed a remarkable career as a director, choreographer, performer, master teacher and producer. Raised in Kansas City, Parsons made it to New York at the age of 17 when he received a scholarship to the Alvin Ailey School. After Ailey, he became an understudy with the Paul Taylor Dance Company and then joined the company as a principal dancer. He stayed for eight years. During summers, he toured with MOMIX; he appeared with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris in the first White Oak tour; and he launched his choreographic career by setting work on the Taylor Company and on the National Ballet of Canada, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Batsheva Dance Company, and the Paris Opera Ballet.

After leaving the Taylor company, Parsons was a guest artist with New York City Ballet for four years before his artistic prowess led him to undertake such diverse projects as choreographing Aida at Arena di Verona and producing and co-choreographing María de Buenos Aires at the Skirball Center, as well as creating the choreography for Fool's Fire, a 1992 film directed by Julie Taymor. Perhaps one of his most thrilling assignments was choreographing and directing the dance elements for Times Square 2000, the 24-hour festivities in Times Square celebrating the turn of the Millennium. Parsons continues his involvement in diverse projects, with his most recent gig taking him to Japan, where he choreographed A Knight's Tale, a new musical theater work directed by John Caird, who previously directed the Broadway and West End productions of Les Misérables and the London's National Theatre's production of Candide. Staged at Tokyo's iconic Imperial Theatre from July 25 through August 29, 2018, the work featured Japanese pop stars in leading roles.

In addition to the more than 75 works that he has created for Parsons Dance, Parsons has 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, among dozens of others.

Heralded by The New York Times as "one of the great movers of modern dance," Parsons has received many accolades throughout his career, including three Choreography Fellowship Grants from the National Endowment of the Arts; the American Choreography Award; the Dance Magazine Award; a Howard Gilman Fellowship, and the Dance Masters of America Annual Award. In May 2018, he received the Capezio Award, one of the most prestigious awards in dance.

Howell Binkley (Resident Lighting Designer/Co-Founder) is the proud co-founder of Parsons Dance for which he has designed more than 70 pieces. His Broadway designs include: Come From Away (2017 Tony nomination), Allegiance, After Midnight (2014 Tony nomination), How to Succeed... (2011 Tony nomination), West Side Story (2009 Tony nomination), Gypsy starring Patti LuPone, In The Heights (2008 Tony nomination), Avenue Q, The Full Monty, Parade, Kiss Of The Spider Woman (1993 Tony nomination). He has made extensive regional and dance works for Alvin Ailey, American Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street, and The Joffrey Ballet's Billboards. He is a five-time Helen Hayes Award recipient and received the 1993 Sir Laurence Olivier Award and the Canadian Dora Award for Kiss of The Spider Woman. Howell also received the 2006 Henry Hewes Design Award; the 2006 Outer Critics Circle Award; and the 2006 Tony Award for Jersey Boys. In addition, he won both the 2017 Tony Award and the 2018 Sir Laurence Olivier Award for the lighting design of Hamilton.

Parsons Dance will perform Saturday March 30th, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to this performance are $29. Students in Summit County schools (K-12) may purchase tickets for $5.00. Tickets are available at parkcityinstitute.org, or by calling the Box Office at 435.655.3114.

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