David parsons choreographer biography

When David Parsons and Tony Award winning lighting designer Howell Binkley founded Parsons Dance in 1985, they knew exactly what they wanted to do:  train dancers to develop the athletic prowess and technical skill that would engage audiences with the joy of it all.
He was a kid from Kansas City whose athletic talents surfaced early.

He was a gymnast, a wrestler, a wild guy on the trampoline. When he was 9, his mother enrolled him in a summer dance program at Sunset Hill Academy, which was affiliated with the Missouri Dance Theater, a local presenter who often brought companies like Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Joffrey Ballet, and Paul Taylor Dance Company to town.

Through the Missouri Dance Theater, Parsons met Christopher Gillis, a longtime Paul Taylor dancer. Gillis encouraged him to come to New York City to learn more about dance, and to Parsons, it seemed like the right move. So, at 17, after graduating early from high school, he made it to New York on a scholarship