(Posted April 8, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The space-age Latin pop orchestrations of cult composer Juan Garcia Esquivel are the musical foundation of a new dance work by the Parsons Dance Company to be performed at Juniata College as part of the college's Artist Series at 7 p.m., Sunday, April 14 in Rosenberger Auditorium in Oller Hall on the Juniata campus.

For tickets and information, please call (814) 641-3333. General admission tickets for single performances are $20. Single-show tickets for seniors over age 65 and children age 18 and under are $8. Juniata College student tickets are $8 with a student ID.

The comic dance, called "Too Many Cooks," is choreographed by David Parsons for eight dancers. The rest of the performance program will include such Parsons Dance Company classics as "Kind of Blue," set to the music of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis; "Nascimento," set to the music of Brazilian musician Milton Nascimento; Union," set to the music of John Corigliano, who composed the music for the movie "The Red Violin; and "Caught," a Parsons signature dance in which a soloist dances in syncopation with a strobe light.

The music of Juan Garcia Esquivel is undergoing a renaissance, roughly 40 years after his musical heyday in the late 1950s and '60s. Born in Mexico, the composer came to the United States in 1957, where he quickly established a signature sound using a full orchestra to produce "space-age" sound effects and postmodern sonic designs using the then-new stereo process.

Today, Esquivel's music is celebrated by new audiences influenced by electronica, techno and other styles of dance music. Some of his more recent albums, "The Genius of Esquivel," "Other Worlds, Other Sounds" and " Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music" have become best sellers. His music also has been featured in such films as "The Big Lebowski" and Beavis and Butthead Do America."

The 11-member Parsons Dance Company ensemble performs modern dance works, primarily choreographed by founder David Parsons. The company has performed on five continents and has collaborated with musicians such as jazz pianist Billy Taylor, and jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter.

David Parsons is a former principal dancer for the Paul Taylor Dance Company and has designed and choreographed more than 50 original dance pieces. The Parsons Dance Company was founded in 1987.

The company has appeared on television many times, most notably in 1987 on "Alive From Off Center," performing "Caught." The company has a repertory of more than 60 dance works.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.