Parsons dancers Justine Delius, Joseph Cyranski, Tea Perez, Emerson Earnshaw, Zoey Anderson and Luke Biddinger rehearse at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Sept. 17. (News photo — Grace McIntyre)

LAKE PLACID — Members of the Parsons Dance company leaped and turned across the studio floor at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Sept. 17, alternating between sharp, angular movements and static positions, muscles taut.

There was plenty of laughter in the room, with encouragement and directions coming from guest choreographer Rena Butler, who was planted on the floor in front of the mirrors.

Creativity needs space and time, Butler and the dancers currently in residence at the LPCA will tell you. This freedom to create is one of the reasons Parsons Dance is here for the fourth year in a row.

Parsons Dance is a New York City-based contemporary dance company that was cofounded in 1985 by David Parsons. The company’s associate artistic director, Natalie Lomonte, said Parsons is characterized by precision, athleticism and energy.

“The inception of the company was on the inspiration of flight, humans taking flight,” Lomonte said.

Zoey Anderson and Luke Romanzi dance during a rehearsal at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Sept. 17. The Parsons Dance company is in the early stages of producing new works during their residency at the LPCA. (News photo — Grace McIntyre)

The company performs a variety of works choreographed by its founder and many other choreographers.

“Parsons Dance’s mission is to spread joy around the world through dance,” she added. “It’s very simple.”

The joy was palpable in the rehearsal room as the dancers and Butler worked through the early stages of choreographing some new pieces, which will be featured in their LPCA performance at the end of this week. The early stages of creating these pieces are all about play.

“It’s a lot about the inner child, things we forgot in making progress within ourselves as adults,” Butler said, describing her creative process for the dance. “Tapping back into that sort of spirit to be able to make something imbued with creativity.”

–

Parsons dancers Megan Garcia-Ziminski, Justine Delius, Odin Brock, Joseph Cyranski, Luke Romanzi, Tea Perez, Zoey Anderson and Luke Biddinger rehearse at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Sept. 17. (News photo — Grace McIntyre)

Dance as conversation

–

For about an hour of their rehearsal time, Butler played sections of the “music,” which in this case is more of a text — a recording of book seven of Plato’s Republic, commonly known as the allegory of the cave, which Butler found available in the public domain. The dancers start sitting on the floor, sharply moving their heads at precise moments in the recording.

“And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent,” the recording reads.

Butler gives the dancers cues, like finding different ways to lift each other. One dancer pushes against the back of another dancer as they arch their back toward the floor, one action answering another.

Parsons dancers Joseph Cyranski and Odin Brock rehearse a duet at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Parsons Dance is in the middle of their third residency at the LPCA. (News photo — Grace McIntyre)

This choreography, created collaboratively between Butler and the dancers, will evolve into a completed piece to be performed at the LPCA. Even then, Butler said, the dance will be in a constant state of flux as she continues to shape it when she joins the company again in the spring in New York City.

This is the second time that Butler has worked with Parsons dancers, and she said that both the company and the dancers are generous with their time and energy.

“I love how exuberant this company is in lifestyle and in the work that they put into the choreography that they dance,” Butler said. “You can give them anything, and they’ll make it beautiful and interesting.”

Butler was joined in rehearsal by Darryl Hoffman, a Chicago-based composer who she collaborates with on most of her projects. Hoffman composes his music on the computer and said that dance, as a medium, poses both challenges and rewards for his work.

“We are challenging each other like we always do. I think we’re very dependent on that during the process,” Hoffman said, talking about himself and Butler. “I’m always trying to make sure I’m creating something outside of myself to make sure whatever it is that’s being created, it does resonate with the artist or the audience.”

–

Inviting the audience in

–

Parsons Dance has hosted open classes and rehearsals throughout their stay in Lake Placid. Company classes are free and open to the public every day from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 22 to Friday, Sept. 27. There are several other free classes listed on the LPCA’s online calendar at www.lakeplacidarts.org, as well as an open tech rehearsal on Thursday, Sept. 19. Connecting with the audience is a priority for Parsons Dance, and it is one of the reasons LPCA has been eager for them to return to Lake Placid.

“It allows our audiences to develop really a relationship with a company that is individualized and personalized. They know the dancers’ names,” LPCA Executive Director James Lemons said. “It really deepens the artistic experience for both the artists and the audiences.

Parsons Dance first came to LPCA for a performance in 2021.

The next year, the company reached out to ask if the LPCA would host them for a residency funded by the New York State Council on the Arts. This year marks the company’s third residency in Lake Placid.

Lemons said Parsons Dance is a great “gateway company” for people who aren’t sure if they enjoy watching dance.

“We live in a community that understands athletics. We understand training. We understand what it takes for the physical body to do these things,” Lemons said. “When you’re in their shows, you feel their power, the power of the body and the power of the movement in a really visceral way.”

Parsons Dance’s residency includes a performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.