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| Formation | 1994 |
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| Type | contemporary ballet company |
| Headquarters | New York, NY, USA |
| Affiliations | Selby Artists Management |
| Website | www |
Complexions Contemporary Ballet is a contemporary ballet company founded in 1994 by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson. The company, based in New York City, is a multicultural mix of classical and contemporary dancers. [1]
Complexions Contemporary Ballet's unique style draws on inspiration from the visual arts, theatre, street-dance and pop culture. Dwight Rhoden has created over 90 ballets for Complexions. Both Rhoden and Desmond Richardson were dancers with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. [2]
Complexions has appeared at major European dance festivals including Italy's Festival of Dance for four consecutive years, the Isle De Dance Festival in Paris, the Maison De La Dance Festival in Lyon, the Holland Dance Festival, Steps International Dance Festival in Switzerland, Łódź Biennale, Warsaw Ballet Festival, Kraków Spring Ballet Festival, the Dance Festival of Canary Islands/Spain, and Le Festival des Arts de St-Sauveur/Canada, and in Korea, Spain, and Australia.
"From Bach to Bowie" is a two-part dance program set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and David Bowie. According to Rhoden, "this program is very much in line with Complexions, as it is a celebration of differences in many ways. The cast, the material and the choreography that we do is celebrating the beauty of things that are very different and putting them together... It’s all about the contrast. Bach is eternally danceable. It has a spirit. Dancers really respond to it. There’s such a dynamic, with so many different tones. I thought it was a nice partnership between that and Bowie.” [3]
Complexions has received numerous awards including the New York Times “Critics Choice” Award. It has appeared throughout the US, including the Joyce Theater/NY, Lincoln Center/NY, the Brooklyn Academy of Music's/NY, the Mahalia Jackson Performance Arts Center in New Orleans, the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, the Music Center in Los Angeles, and the Winspear Opera House/Dallas.
Karole Armitage is an American dancer and choreographer currently based in New York City. She is artistic director of Armitage Gone! Dance, a contemporary dance company that performs several times annually in New York City as well as touring internationally. She was dubbed the “punk ballerina” in the 1980s. She earned a Tony nomination for her choreography of the Broadway musical Hair.
Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments. Morris is popular among dance aficionados, the music world, as well as mainstream audiences.
Contemporary ballet is a genre of dance that incorporates elements of classical ballet and modern dance. It employs classical ballet technique and in many cases classical pointe technique as well, but allows greater range of movement of the upper body and is not constrained to the rigorously defined body lines and forms found in traditional, classical ballet. Many of its attributes come from the ideas and innovations of 20th-century modern dance, including floor work and turn-in of the legs. The style also contains many movements emphasizing the body's flexibility.
Eliot Feld is an American modern ballet choreographer, performer, teacher, and director. Feld works in contemporary ballet. His company and schools, including the Feld Ballet and Ballet Tech, are deeply committed to dance and dance education in New York City.
The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is an American professional ballet company based in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and United States.
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB) is an American contemporary dance company. It comprises eleven classically trained dancers.
Dwight Rhoden is an American choreographer and artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet who began dancing at the age of 17 while studying acting. He has performed with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz de Montréal and was a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He has appeared in numerous television specials, documentaries and commercials throughout the United States, Canada and Europe and has been a featured performer on many PBS Great Performances specials.
Desmond Richardson is an American dancer, co-founder, and co-artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. He has mastered a wide range of dance forms including hip hop, classical, modern, classical ballet, and contemporary ballet.
Robert Wierzel is an American lighting designer.
A Suite of Dances is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites. The ballet was created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and premiered on March 3, 1994, at the New York State Theater.
Misty Danielle Copeland is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history.
Holly Hynes is an accomplished, award winning costume designer with over 250 ballets to her credit, including more than 70 at the New York City Ballet. Hynes' designs are also on view in companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Kirov Ballet, Royal Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, La Scala Theatre Ballet, Koninklijk Ballet van Vlaanderen, Houston Ballet, BalletMet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Vancouver, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, American Repertory Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Alberta Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, and the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where she served as the resident costume designer for 19 years.
Rubinald Rofino Pronk, born and raised in The Hague, Netherlands, is a danseur performing with the Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. He trained at the Royal (Dutch) Conservatory of Dance and joined the Dutch National Ballet at age 16 and was promoted to soloist. Rubinald performed works by choreographers including Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jacopo Godani, Martha Graham and Krzysztof Pastor. In 2006 he joined Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson's Complexions Contemporary Ballet, performing works by Rhoden and Ulysses Dove. He is a guest artist with Dutch National Ballet and in 2009–2011 with Polish National Ballet.
Chroma is a one-act contemporary ballet created by Wayne McGregor for the Royal Ballet. The work received its premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 17 November 2006. The ballet is performed to a combination of original music by Joby Talbot and arrangements of music by Jack White of the White Stripes, with orchestrations by Christopher Austin. The ballet was a great success, winning a number of awards, including the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, and led to The Royal Ballet appointing McGregor as resident choreographer.
Natalia Alonso is an American professional dancer and actress, and is appearing as Maria Tallchief in the upcoming play Nikolai and the Others at Lincoln Center Theater.
Enzo Celli is an Italian contemporary dancer, choreographer and dance company artistic director
Roberto Villanueva is an American dancer, teacher, artistic director, and producer. He performed with Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company before founding BalaSole Dance Company.
Pontus Karl Johan Lidberg is a Swedish born choreographer, dancer and filmmaker. He is the Artistic Director of Danish Dance Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Tracy Inman is an American dancer, choreographer, and educator who performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He is currently the co-director of The Ailey School and a choreographer & consultant for the television series Pose.
Hope Boykin is an American dancer, choreographer, educator, director, writer, and speaker who is a former member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Her mission is to create and share "within an environment of acceptance, brings new levels of awareness. Exploring, developing, and teaching a sound and healthy approach to movement and expression, promotes growth. Lifting and leading young and aspiring artists to a secure foundation and a concrete understanding evolves a confidence and an assurance which will be unmatched. There are no limits." She has inspired many with her journey to sharing her continued explorations with others on her path to search for hope. She continues to exhibit that her voice is indeed relevant and continues to remain significant within the dance community and world today.
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