LOOKING FOR 'SOMETHING IN THE EYES'

Growing up in Kansas City, David Parsons was a golden boy. At age 12, the directors of the Missouri Dance Theatre invited him to join. At Southwest High School he was a gymnast and wrestler who dated the prettiest girl in school.

Moving to New York at 16 on a scholarship with the Alvin Ailey school, Parsons' life became even more charmed. He convinced modern dance pioneer Paul Taylor to let him understudy, and when a dancer became injured Parsons was ready to step in for the company's tour of Russia.

In 1987, the then-27-year-old Parsons left Taylor to start his own company, a risky endeavor for anyone. But now the Parsons Dance Company is internationally renowned for its exuberance and inventiveness.

The Parsons Dance Company will be in residence at Southeast Missouri State University next week. The 10 dancers will present a concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 9, at Academic Auditorium.

The company will teach a master class from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Parker Dance Studio. The visit by the company is part of the Millennial Symposium of the Arts taking place at Southeast Missouri State University next week.

Parsons is known for taking risks and for choreographing dances that excite audiences and are accessible. His New York City-based troupe is phenomenally popular and not just in the United States. After performing at Southeast they leave for Chile. Parsons is the only dance company to perform at all three Spoleto arts festivals in the same year.

Parsons' is one of the few modern dance companies that operates in the black, employs its dancers 40 weeks a year and provides them with health insurance. It's a pity that's so unusual.

"In the U.S. it's difficult," he says. "People to tend to think dance is a hobby."

The physicality drew him to Taylor's dancing, as well as the difficulty and the quality of the choreography. "Also, " he said, "the men and women danced together as equals. It was more contemporary."

He left the Taylor company for a simple reason. "I needed to grow," he said. "It's a difficult thing to do, but it's important to be in a situation where you can grow. Otherwise you can get stagnant."

He is known to look at hundreds of dancers to fill one open spot. In choosing dancers, physicality and technical training are givens. What he's really looking for is a passion for dance.

"Something in the eyes," he says.

He likes to choreograph his dances to modern music, especially jazz. His company has a repertoire of 50 dances and recently has begun incorporating the work of other choreographers.

Now 40 years old, Parsons has been on the road for 23 years and has decided to stop dancing and touring with the company. "It's time to turn things over to the younger generation," he says. "It's just opening up to a different way and young choreographers."

He is focusing now on working a a slower pace, moving into a new building on Times Square and "being more part of the dance community."

Parsons was in Los Angeles earlier this week for the premiere of a new work titled "Images." It incorporates the pictures of photographer Howard Shatz.

Photography intrigues Parsons. It was the inspiration for his best-known work, a dance called "Caught" in which a dancer seems to fly about the stage through the technique of illuminating leaps with a remote-controlled strobe light.

"I realized the stage could be like a piece of undeveloped film," he said.

His company is a good choice for a community like Cape Girardeau where dance is just getting a foothold, he says.

"The company's highly creative. When you see how dance music, costuming and exceptional choreography mix, it's a conglomeration of a lot of different arts. It's something to see."