On The Road: March 2024

Parsons dancers during the Q&A of a student matinee in Asheville, NC

Following recent performances in Gainesville, FL and Asheville, NC, our dancers returned to NYC to begin working with students from Ballet Tech—NYC’s Public School For Dance for the third annual performance of About Sprouts. This performance will take place on June 14 and 15 at Battery Playscape.

We are also rehearsing for shows that will find us in Aiken, SC on March 8 for Joye in Aiken, the performing arts festival staged at the University of South Carolina’s Aiken Community Theater. Next stop is Atlanta for a March 10 show at Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Arts, and then on to Dallas to appear on March 15 and 16 as part of TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND. Stay tuned for more that includes news about our May 14-25 Joyce season.

Natalie Lomonte appointed new Associate Artistic Director

New York City-based choreographer, director and teacher Natalie Lomonte will be joining Parsons Dance as Associate Artistic Director, a newly created position. Adding Natalie to our staff means welcoming her home. A Parsons dancer from 2008 to 2009, she eventually pivoted from performer to choreographer.

In 2014, she returned to Parsons Dance in this new role, serving as David’s assistant when he created repertory works Whirlaway and The Introduction. In 2015, she received our first GenerationNOW choreography fellowship to create Within which premiered and The Joyce. In 2018, she spent six months in Japan assisting David in creating the choreography for A Knight’s Tale. "Performing with Parsons Dance is a rush like no other; the movement still lives in my bones,” says Natalie, “I am honored to return once again to work with David and the company."

Her performance experience beyond Parsons includes dancing for MOMIX and Pilobolus, appearances in the film Sex and The City 2 and in the original Broadway cast of Spiderman:Turn Off the Dark. Following her career as a dancer, she served as Assistant Stage Director and Choreographer to Mia Michaels for The New York Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes. Since 2012, she has been the movement director for One Year Lease Theater Company.

A devoted dance teacher, she has taught at Fordham University, and has led movement workshops at Harvard, Vassar, PACE and Marymount Manhattan, where she currently serves as Vice President of the Dance Department Advisory Board.

“We are thrilled to have Natalie join us,” David Parsons declares, “a former member of the company with years of experience in all aspects of our business, she is a great addition to the team.”

Catch Us In Lake Placid When The Company Previews A New Piece!

Parsons dancers rehearse new work with choreographer Penny Saunders.

“I love working with Parsons Dance,” says choreographer Penny Saunders about her experience in creating a new piece on the company during our three week residency at Lake Placid Performing Arts Center. “Feeling trusted is a great place to start,” Saunders goes on to say, praising not only our dancers but also David who, when she began the choreographic process, simply said “do what you want.”

As she digs for her own voice, Saunders has called on Parsons dancers to help her explore what she hopes to be a mischievous, mysterious, and fun piece, one filled with sound generating from a rhythmic musical score by the talented composer Michael Wall. Incorporating piano, trumpet and vocals with the amplified sound of dancers’ breathing and stomping feet, the piece will make its world premiere during our Joyce season next spring.

We’re delighted that Lake Placid audiences will have a chance to catch a preview performance
of this new work on September 1 when it appears on a program that features Parsons repertory
favorites as well.

Parsons dancers enjoying 2023 Lake Placid Residency with choreographer Penny Saunders.