Parsons spoke by phone from New York about
the upcoming Philly concert. "We’ve been working on this for two years.
It came about because I was just enthralled by the music by the East
Village Opera Company."
Remember Me started out as a single
night event of contemporized arias by EVOC at Joe’s Pub in New York and
was such a hit they had and extended run which led to very successful
recordings. The musicians tried to imagine some of operas most famous
arias in arrangements that the composers might choose had they worked
with electric instruments and sound design. EVOC’s vocalists Tyley Ross
and Anne-Marie Milazzo are onstage with the Parsons dancers as
narrators.
Milazzo provided contemporary lyrics in English for the 13
arias into a cohesive story. "Anne-Marie wrote lyrics for such shows as
Spring Awakening and Next to Normal. So we were so glad to be able to
work with her and Tyler. They really know how to arrange this music for
younger audiences in a classy way. "Parsons explained.
Aside
from the high concept music, the costumes are by a Project Runway
designer Austin Scarlett and " We use multimedia video, which. I
actually edited myself. "Parsons said. "We put together a story line. I
let loose as far as emotional content. Choreographically I went over the
top with this. It’s a totally charged experience of music and dance."
Parsons
dancers are known for a wide variety of styles from insect-like
movement of The Envelope to the sultry dance ballades of Milton
Nascimento and are always athletically dynamic. Remember Me is a
departure for them as a full-out over the top story. "The dancers very
physical, they tour all over the world and know other cultures and it
shows onstage."
Parsons most famous piece, the explosive
Caught, a solo first danced by David Parsons himself, will open the
Philly performances. Caught, set to electopychedelic music by Robert
Fripp, manipulates strobe lighting to make it appear that the dancer
never touches the ground, in fact, the performer appears to be frozen or
moving in mid-air. It looks like the dancer is being punched through
another dimension.It has never been executed with more precision than by
Miquel Quinones in this performance.
