Sex, Revenge, and Rock & Roll, a night for the family!

Remember Me, a one act rock-ballet shook the house at the Lower Manhattan Joyce Theatre on Wednesday night.   A collaboration between David Parsons and Parsons Dance with the East Village Opera Company resulted in a glam-rock infused illustration of the AnnzMarie Milazzo poem, Traveled Hearts.

The poem was developed into a story told by the talented members of the Parsons company and David Parsons’ choreography.  Put to music using classic operatic standards from the likes of Bizet and Puccini, the score was rearranged into an 80s rock/90s pop style that kept the audience tapping their toes, and some of the older audience members plugging their ears, (because of the volume I assume). The dancers of the company brought the story to life with such fervor and passion, you could feel it mezzanine!

Sarah Braverman, who danced the lead role, performed with grace and soul.  Barely ever leaving the stage throughout the performance, Braverman appears to have the stamina of a small ox.  She moved effortlessly through the performance with style along with the other dancers, Miguel Quinoenes and Zac Hammer, who play the two other points in this three-sided, love triangle.   Both male dancers, who play characters simultaneously interested in the sultry Braverman onstage, gave athletic and virtuous performances worthy of an ESPY award.

The production and lighting designers, Jason Thompson and Howell Binkley, created a surreal landscape for this tragic romance with the help of projectors, and their brilliant imaginations.  Using the stage as a canvas they paint unearthly video backdrops projected onto curtains behind the dancers.  These projected video backdrops took the production to another level.  With images of falling water or a rising moon over a sea of billowing clouds and shimmering stars, the company moved through space in a surreal dreamlike environment.  Although some of the videos projected seemed extremely literal and somewhat contrived, like the falling cartoon flower images,l the lighting and projection were a spectacle worth seeing the show for.

Overall this performance was one of the most original works I’ve seen all year, well the only work I’ve seen all year, . . . but still, well worth every penny.  I’d recommend this for almost anyone,  especially older kids, or even the whole family.  The kids might enjoy seeing dance put to music that doesn’t sound foreign to them.  And while mom and dad might love the theatre, the glam-rock stylized score is sure to bring them back to that time in high school going to see Whitesnake at the Foxwoods arena.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Author:  Antoine Lee
Dance Review:  David Parsons Dance
Venue:  Joyce Theater, New York City
Performance:  Wednesday, January 14, 2009
www.iDANZOnline.com

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