By Cynthia Bond Perry

For the AJC

New York Times critics won’t be welcome when Parsons Dance Company opens its new version of “Remember Me” in New York next February.

When choreographer David Parsons’ first full-length narrative work, a multimedia collaboration with the East Village Opera Company, opened at the Joyce Theater last January, Times critic Gia Kourlas dubbed it “more soap opera than rock opera.” Still, audiences loved it, and the show sold out seven of 10 performances.

“She really nailed us, but we don’t care,” said Parsons in a phone interview. “We’ve got people jumping to their feet, and people coming up and saying, ‘You really touched me emotionally.’ And that’s what it’s supposed to do!”

On Friday, the Ferst Center for the Arts presents the latest version of “Remember Me” — months before its New York premiere.

“Remember Me” is the most ambitious work Parsons, 49, has created during the 22 years he’s had his own troupe. One of few financially stable American modern dance companies, Parsons is proud to say, provides 11 dancers and six staffers with full-time salaries, medical and dental insurance. Touring an average of 32 weeks per year, his highly physical, visually engaging choreography is known for accessibility and broad appeal. “I’m someone who likes to captivate audiences from the get-go,” Parsons said.

Inspired by The East Village Opera Company’s rock arrangements of classical arias, Parsons developed a story line with lead vocalists AnnMarie Milazzo and Tyley Ross, East Village Opera Company’s co-founder. Based on a classic love triangle, the story takes audiences on an emotional journey.

“I start it off as almost a comedy, and it ends in a tragedy, and then it ends up in this place that just makes you want to cry,” he said.

The story involves a woman, Marie, and two brothers, Gintus and Artemis. Gintus loves Marie, but Marie is in love with Artemis. Consumed by jealously, Gintus imprisons Marie, and the subsequent suicide and murder dissolve into a beautiful afterlife, according to Parsons.

“We were really taking a risk here, man, with emotion. You don’t see it very much in modern dance,” he explained. “It’s like an opera — tragic. And it’s lovely. It’s human emotion, and it’s magnified with some pretty physical dancing.”

Parsons’ style is marked by athleticism and strong body shapes in motion. And he likes “air time” – moments when dancers are airborne, sculpted by light.

When critics write off his brand of emotional risk-taking, they’re not playing ball, not supporting the progress — or sometimes even survival — of the art form, he said.

“A lot of New York companies are not interested in having them in their theaters. It doesn’t make sense,” Parsons said.

Despite Kourlas’ scathing review last January, PBS has produced a video version of “Remember Me.” The program began airing across the country Aug. 2, but has not aired in Georgia.

Parsons said he’s been “tinkering like a madman,” since he reworked the piece for the stage. He’s rechoreographed entire sections, gone through different costume designs, and clarified the story. The dancers, he said, “have taken it to another level.”

Originally, lead singers Milazzo and Ross had been more involved in the choreography. But since they pulled focus away from the dancing, Parsons repositioned them more as narrators. “We just had to find the language. It’s all new for us. So we took the time, we believed in the piece, and now it’s something we’re all really proud of.”

Parsons believes so strongly in the new version of “Remember Me” that for his February New York season, he’ll offer a straight two-week run, without evenings of additional repertory. “We think we’re going to sell the place out. We think the audience is on our side. We know they are.”

Theater preview

“Remember Me”

Friday. $32-$42. Ferst Center for the Arts, 349 Ferst Drive, Atlanta.

404-894-9600, www.ferstcenter.org .

Zoetic Dance Ensemble will host a pre-show dance discussion in the Richards Gallery at 7:15 p.m.