“The beauty of Caught is that it’s universal. Almost everyone on the planet has dreamed of flying." - David Parsons
Late one night in May, more than forty years ago, I was alone in a studio at New York City’s 92nd Street Y. Sharon Luckman, who was working at the Y and would later become Executive Director of Alvin Ailey, had given me permission to stay as late as I wanted. When I finished, I simply had to close the door behind me. That freedom—to stay late, experiment, fail, and discover—helped give birth to Caught.
The story, of course, began before that night. When I was seventeen, I arrived in New York City on an Ailey scholarship. I was a gymnast from Kansas City and had $70 in my pocket. My first jobs were working the graveyard shift at a gas station. I also was a gardener and a stunt model because I was able to jump.
David Parsons performing Caught. Photo by William Struhs Charleston (1996)
The relationship between photography and dance has always been important to me, and Lois Greenfield is one of the most talented photographers that I know. I met her on a shoot for the cover of The Village Voice. We hit it off and, for forty years, we have taken thousands of photographs together. We weren’t trying to manufacture a product; we were just experimenting. We were capturing things in the air that the naked eye couldn’t see—moments that happened in a fraction of a second...
Throughout the years, I have worked with many other great photographers, including Annie Leibovitz and Bruce Weber. Photography has always been a passion, and it taught me to think differently about movement. Then something clicked: put it onstage. At the 92nd Street Y, I began to experiment with strobe lighting. The strobe would fire at the top of my leaps so that the audience would perceive flight. I set the work to Robert Fripp’s music, which had no pulse. That heightened the magic.
I named the piece Caught and first performed it in Yonkers, NY with the choreographer Mr. Wiggles and his Rock Steady Crew, one of the first hip-hop crews. Hip-hop was just blooming in the Bronx, and the beginnings of Caught, in conventional light, were taken from those hip-hop dancers. What’s really great about the performing arts is that Mr. Wiggles and I received the Capezio Award thirty-five years later. We hadn’t seen each other since that first performance. We pointed at each other, smiled, and hugged.
Caught accelerated everything. It opened doors I could not have planned for: invitations to perform in ballet galas across Europe, the Far East, South America, and the United States; performances alongside artists like Maya Plisetskaya, Kevin McKenzie, and Susan Jaffe. The gala circuit expanded my network and touring possibilities. Looking back, the lessons aren’t just artistic; they’re practical. An idea and a strong product, plus a business plan, can change everything for a choreographer. That night at the Y was about art, but the career that followed depended on both. Caught has been performed thousands of times worldwide by amazing artists. And I think the most beautiful thing is that it can’t truly be captured on video or film because the human eye retains an afterimage that gets imprinted—and that cannot be replicated on a screen. To really understand and appreciate the piece, go to a theater and see it performed live!
David Parsons performing Caught. Photo by Blaine T. Covert (1988)