BY ELIZABETH ZIMMER | One of the great success stories of American contemporary dance is that of David Parsons, an athletic kid, fond of the trampoline, who emerged from Kansas City in 1977 with a work/study scholarship to New York’s Ailey School. He supported himself pumping gas in Manhattan, until an apprenticeship with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, where he swept the studio, turned into a paying gig. Soon a star with Taylor, he guested for troupes from all over, began choreographing his own works, and, in 1985, opened his own ensemble. It early on produced artist Robert Battle, who now runs the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Parsons Dance brings his acclaimed troupe, notorious for not being averse to having fun, to the Joyce for a two-week season featuring the New York premiere of Trey McIntyre’s Eight Women, to music by Aretha Franklin; a revival of the late Paul Taylor’s Runes; and three company classics, including the iconic 1982 Caught, the lively, Latin-style Nascimento, and the 2102 Round My World, which has music by Zoe Keating.

May 14-26 at The Joyce Theater (175 Eighth Ave. at W. 19th St.). Tues.-Wed. at 7:30pm; Thurs.-Fri. at 8pm, Sat. at 2pm & 8pm; Sun. at 2pm. Curtain Chat: Wed., May 22. Tickets ($10-$76; Joyce Members, $23; $30) can be purchased at Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Note: Ticket prices are subject to change.

Chelsea’s only art museum also hosts dance; its annual Pentacle/Rubin Museum Dance Series wraps up May 8 with the Francesca Harper Project, presenting chorography created specifically for the diverse spaces in what was formerly Barneys’ department store. Harper’s 20-minute Unapologetic Body Work in Progress Showing, to be shown at 6, 6:45, and 7:30 pm, explores identity, loss, healing, and rebirth. Wed., May 8 at the Rubin Museum of Art (150 W. 17th St. at Seventh Ave.). Free with $19 admission to the Museum. For reservations and information, call 212-620-5000 or visit rubinmuseum.org/events.

Elsewhere in town, the La Mama Moves! Dance Festival offers a cornucopia of international contemporary dance, through May 26, at the Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa (66 E. 4th St. btw. Bowery & Second Ave.). For tickets ($25 adults, $20 students/seniors), call 212-352-3101 or visit lamama.org.

At the BAM Opera House, the Mark Morris Dance Group finally brings us Morris’s Pepperland, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Sgt. Pepper album commissioned by the city of Liverpool, from May 8-11 at 7:30pm (30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn). For info, visit bam.org or call 718-636-4100.

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