Desmond Richardson is an American dancer, actor and 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.
He remained the principal dancer at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1987 to 1994.
Born in 1968 and raised in Queens, NY, Richardson discovered dance at a block party at the age of 10. His grandmother was the choir directress of their church and played piano, while his father was a rhythm and blues musician with the group The Manhattans. Richardson auditioned for the High School of the Performing Arts, where he trained in classical ballet technique and modern dance. [1]
The next year, he auditioned for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (1983-1986) and received a full scholarship to study under the tutelage of Walter Raines, Robert Christopher, Denise Jefferson, Penny Frank, and Ronald Brown, and a host of other dance luminaries. He also received a merit scholarship to the Internationale Akademie des Tanzes in Köln, Germany (1984-1985) and was the recipient of a Presidential Scholar Award for the Arts (1986) from YoungArts. In 1986, he was invited him to become a member of Ailey II. Richardson then danced with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's main company as a principal dancer from 1987 to 1994 before starting his own company with fellow Ailey dancer, Dwight Rhoden. In his eight years with the company, Richardson danced works by José Limón, John Butler, Elisa Monte, Billy Wilson and many others. [1]
In 1994, Complexions Contemporary Ballet was formed by Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden. The company sought to diverge from the hetero-normative Black masculinity of the "Soul" aesthetic that was cultivated in companies such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. [2] The company, rather, produced its own "Post-Soul" aesthetic rooted in Black exploration and individual eccentricity. Through Richardson's and Rhoden's direction, Complexions introduced heterogeneity into American concert dance with their emphasis on gender ambivalence and the plurality of race, sexuality, and dance formality.
At the same time as starting his own company, Richardson joined the Frankfurt Ballet in 1994, which was under the direction of William Forsythe. [2]
In 1997, he joined the American Ballet Theatre where he performed the lead role in the company's production of Othello and quickly was promoted to become the first Black principal dancer since the inception of the company. [1] Aiding in the transformation of ballet from a predominately white form, Richardson performed many other lead roles to critical acclaim.
In 1998, Richardson joined the premiere cast of the Broadway musical Fosse for which he received a 1999 Tony Award Nomination. He has also appeared on Broadway in the musicals The Look of Love: The songs of Burt Bacharach , City Center Encores of "House of Flowers," Movin' Out, and most recently, the Tony-winning hit show After Midnight .
Richardson has performed as a guest artist with several world-renowned companies including the Swedish Opera Ballet, the Washington Ballet, Teatro at La Scala, and the San Francisco Ballet.
He has appeared on TV shows as a celebrity performer and choreographer for SYTYCD, Amici(Italy), Israel(SYTYCD), and Australia(SYTYCD). He performed at Larry Rosen's Jazz Roots where he and Grammy Artist Bobby McFerrin performed an impromptu improv to an astounded audience in Miami at the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Venue.
Richardson has worked in TV, film, and video in the United States and abroad.
He performed with Michael Jackson in his 30th-anniversary celebration at Madison Square Garden.
Additional performances include being a featured guest artist in the 71st Academy Awards live television presentation and a principal role in Debbie Allen's a dance/theatrical presentation, Soul Possessed, which had its world premiere at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1999.
Richardson is featured in Patrick Swayze's film, One Last Dance and the film version of the Oscar-winning Chicago .
On July 16, 2008, Richardson was featured as a choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance .
Richardson worked as an ensemble member in Chicago alongside Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones. He also appeared in'High Strung Free: Dance alongside actors Harry Jarvis, Juliet Doherty, and Thomas Doherty. Richardson plays the role of Sammy, and "Fall To Rise" opposite Daphne Rubin-Vega, Katherine Crocker, and Tamara Tunie. He will also be featured in the HBO/MAX "The Other Two" series as Ted.
Alvin Ailey Jr. was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.
Renee Robinson is a retired American dancer from Washington, D.C., who performed as a Principal Dancer of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She began her dance training in classical ballet at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet. She also attended the School of American Ballet, the Dance Theatre of Harlem and The Ailey School. Robinson was a member of the Alvin Ailey II, before becoming a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1981.
Gawain Garth Fagan, CD is a Jamaican modern dance choreographer. He is the founder and artistic director of Garth Fagan Dance, a modern dance company based in Rochester, New York.
Mia Michaels Melchiona is an American choreographer and judge on the television show So You Think You Can Dance. She has worked with Tom Cruise, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Madonna, Ricky Martin, Prince, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. In 2005 she choreographed Cirque du Soleil's world tour Delirium and Celine Dion's A New Day..., for which she received an Emmy Award nomination. In 2007 she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for her routine on "Calling You" during season two of So You Think You Can Dance. She won another Emmy Award during season five in 2010. She was a judge during season 7 with Adam Shankman and Nigel Lythgoe. She choreographed the dance sequence for "Get Happy" in the episode "Bombshells" of the television series House.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is a modern dance company based in New York City. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 32 dancers, led by artistic director Robert Battle and associate artistic director Matthew Rushing.
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.
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.
Lynne Taylor-Corbett is a choreographer, director, lyricist, and composer. She was born in Denver, Colorado.
Kyle Abraham is an American choreographer and dancer. He founded his own company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in 2006 in New York City and has produced many original works for A.I.M such as The Radio Show (2010), Absent Matter (2015), Pavement (2012), Dearest Home (2017), Drive (2017), INDY (2018), Studies on Farewell (2019), and An Untitled Love (2021). Kyle has also been commissioned to create new works for international dance companies such as Untitled America (2016) for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Runaway (2018) for New York City Ballet, The Bystander (2019) for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Only The Lonely (2019) for Paul Taylor American Modern Dance and Ash (2019).
Lorenzo Harris is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and professor of hip-hop dance. Harris formed the first and longest running hip-hop dance touring company, Rennie Harris Puremovement in 1992. In 2007, he conceived another touring company, RHAW or Rennie Harris Awe-Inspiring Works.
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
Elisa Monte is an American artistic director, choreographer, and dancer who founded Elisa Monte Dance in New York City. Monte's first choreographic work, Treading (1979), defined her as an important innovator and contributor to contemporary dance. Her signature style, recognized as "daring, intense, and passionate, is classical and highly athletic."
George W. Faison is an American dancer, choreographer, teacher, and theater producer, and winner of a 1975 Tony, a Drama Desk Award, and a 1991 nominee for the Emmy Award for choreography. He was a featured dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, founder of the George Faison Universal Dance Experience, and co-founder/producing artistic director of the Faison Firehouse Theater.
Lindsay Shearer-Nelko is a Canadian-born choreographer of such television shows as FOX's 'So You Think You Can Dance' and 'The X Factor'.
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.
Masazumi Chaya is a Japanese American dancer, choreographer and was the associate artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) from 1991 to 2020.
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.
Troy Powell also known as Troy O'Neil Powell is an American dancer, choreographer, educator, and director. He is a former principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and former artistic director of AAADT's second company, Ailey 2. Powell was fired in July 2020 after an independent investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the Ailey School concluded that he had engaged in "inappropriate communications" with students who were interested in joining the Ailey 2.
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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