Zoey Anderson of Parsons Dance looks forward to the company’s performance Saturday at the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts for an array of reasons.
“We’re excited to be surrounded by the location, the people, the energy and the culture, and share our love of the art of dance,” she said.
Another reason is because Anderson was born and raised in Utah, and started her dance career at Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem.
“So, I’m excited to perform in Park City,” she said. “I’m coming back home.”
Anderson also looks forward to sharing Saturday’s program with local audiences, because the six works of the evening will create human connections between the audience and dancers, which is a trademark of Artistic Director David Parsons, according to Anderson.
“David’s work allows us to find these fun, intimate and integral moments on the stage,” she said. “And when the audience experiences them, it’s as if he is inviting them into each movement and excitement of each work.”
Saturday’s performance will kick off with “Swing Shift,” which Parsons created in 2002.
“This is an older, classic work by David, and it’s beautiful,” said Anderson, who performs a solo within the piece. “It’s about all the different shifts and changes we go through in our life journeys, and you get familiarized with his style, right out the gate.”
Next on the schedule is “Hand Dance,” a work Parsons conceived a year after “Swing Shift,” Anderson said.
“This is based on a simple, but very effective idea,” she said. “It’s a dark stage where all you see are the dancers’ hands in motion. It’s quirky fun, and appealing to the eye to just see these hands moving around.”
The evening will also feature a new piece, “Mr. Withers,” which the company premiered last month, according to Anderson.
“It’s performed to music by the (late) Bill Withers, and it thrives on the lyrics and the beats,” she said. “Audiences connect with the music, like most of the music David uses with his work. I mean, when you say, ‘Lean on Me’ or ‘Ain’t No Sunshine,’ everyone has something to say or some memory that comes with those songs.”
Not all the pieces in Saturday’s performance are choreographed by Parsons, and that is evident with “The Ride Through,” by Rena Butler, that opens the second half of the evening, Anderson said.
“David likes to bring in one or two guest choreographers each year to give us the chance to experience something different,” she said.
Butler’s work contrasts Parsons’ pieces, because she does a lot of floor work.
“David’s style uses a lot of air and the power of lightness,” Anderson said. “He likes to utilize leaps and jumps, while Rena’s ideas are more heavy. She still draws on power, but puts it on the ground.”
One of the evening’s highlights for Anderson is Parsons’ classic work, “Caught,” which premiered in 1982.
The work showcases the beauty of flying, Anderson said.
“David originally danced it, and the idea he originally had was to make it masculine for a male-identifying dancer,” she said.
The aura of the piece changes when Anderson performs it, and that change is not only noticeable on stage, but in her own strength and training.
“Physically it’s been exciting to push for something different, and pick up my cross training,” she said with a laugh. “And this piece has opened me up to this whole world of running and weightlifting. Performing this is a gift and it’s always something I’ll be very grateful for.”
The evening will end fittingly with a Parsons work from 2005 called “In The End.”
“It’s all danced to Dave Matthews Band music,” Anderson said. “It is such a joyful piece about freedom and release. And features (Parsons’) classic steps that codify his style. We get to mix and match these steps in partners, solos and groups.”
Evening-length programs such as the one planned for Saturday has kept Anderson striving to be in the best mental and physical shape she can after eight seasons with Parsons Dance.
“David helps me find new ways to pull out growth, creativity, artistry, inspiration — I could keep going on with this — from within myself every day,” she said. “I never get bored, and he gives me structure to perform, especially when I do a solo. At the same time, he allows me freedom within the movements. He gives me so much room to make different choices and add my two cents and personality in these works.”
Anderson was introduced to Parsons Dance through summer intensive workshops while attending Marymount Manhattan College on the Upper East Side of New York City.
“They did three-week programs every June, and Marymount was a sponsoring location,” she said. “And I would say the first thing that I fell in love with was the athleticism and the history and legacy of the company’s works.”