Complexions Contemporary Ballet is bringing in its 15^th anniversary with a bang!  This season at the Joyce Theater, Complexions has a variety of programs that covers the many shades of dance through the eyes of artistic directors, Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson.  What’s most exciting about this season, besides the dancers being more beautiful than ever, is seeing the work of company veterans such as Jae Man Joo and Juan Rodriguez on the line-up.

Program C opens with Mercy, a New York premiere choreographed by Rhoden and Richardson.  This piece shows no mercy on the audience or the dancers in this beautifully constructed thirty-five minute work that portrays personal strife and spiritual struggle.  The beauty of Complexions Contemporary Ballet is the impeccable technicality and artistry of every single one of its dancers.  Mercy is an awe-inspiring and heart felt performance that leaves the audience wanting more!

Mirror Me (2009 premiere), choreographed by company member Juan Rodriguez, is a pointe trio performed by Patricia Hachey, Natalia Alonso, and Simon Silva.  This carefully crafted work depicts the many aspects of the human self and the conflict between these varying aspects.  Rodriguez’s use of classical ballet vocabulary, in a way well-suited for this piece, creates a nice contrast with the subject matter.

Dirty Wire (2009 premiere), choreographed by Dwight Rhoden, is a fierce duet executed ever-so-flawless by Edgar Anindo and Christine Paretlow.  Anindo and Partelow are the perfect mix of sugar and spice as they weave through each other’s space and around each other in risky balances, sensual lifts, and captivating moments of being completely in tuned to each other.  Partelow’s picture perfect lines and command of the space gives her that extra edge that keeps your eyes fixed on her.

Atmosphere (2009 premiere) by company member, Jae Man Joo, is my personal favorite in this program.  In this piece, the audience gets to see Complexions in a whole new light, literally because of the light fixtures placed on stage, and artistically through Joo’s style.  As the piece unfolds, the dancers create an amazing ambience like wonderful illustrators on an open canvas. This piece is less about displaying extraordinary technique and more about showing each dancer as an individual artist with something very unique to offer.

The evening closes with Rise (2008), an audience favorite choreographed by Dwight Rhoden.  This piece, performed to a U2 medley, is a jazzy, high energy, clap along favorite!  The audience has just as much fun as the dancers as they close the evening with high spirits and fuzzy feelings on the inside.

After 15 years of taking the New York contemporary dance scene by storm, Complexions is looking better than ever! The breathtaking facility and ability of the dancers is still wowing the audience and leaving most people speechless.  I look forward to seeing the company take their success to new levels and venture into the unexpected during the next decade!

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Simone Sobers
Performance:  Complexions
Choreography:  Desmond Richardson, Dwight Rhoden, Jae man Joo, Juan Rodriguez
Venue:  The Joyce Theater
Show Date:  November 24, 2009
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Complexions Contemporary Ballet presents a program of crowd-pleasers.  Dubbed the “15th Anniversary Medley # 1: A collection of audience favorites,” the program shows off the variety of repertoire the company has accumulated.  With beautifully constructed physiques the dancers articulate artistic abstractions.  Exhilarating, daring athleticism is displayed by the dancers whose superb skillfulness is masked in a feeling of spontaneity.

The first work on the program predates the founding of Complexions in 1994, appropriately titled, “Growth” (1991), the piece portrays an individual striving for self development, searching for substance in the space surrounding him.  Here dancer Gary W. Jeter II attacks each movement in a conquest for truth, expressing the 15th anniversary season’s theme of “Love, Sweat, Tears.”

“Momentary Forevers” (2007, Excerpt) is a fierce pas de deux with Natiya Kezevadze and Juan Rodriguez in futuristic citrusy orange costumes by Christine Darch.  The cursive choreography by Dwight Rhoden expresses deep sentimentality of the dual’s permeate and fleeting qualities of romantic relationships.

“Gone” (2000) is a highlight of the show, with amazing virtuoso performances by Cifford Williams, Philip John Orsano, and Edgar Anido.  A powerful dance of masculinity and strife, the dancers’ toned bodies soulfully sculpt space and time. 

Like a Broadway classic, “Showman’s Groove” (2005) plays to the audience as the duo Joo Hwan Cho and Christina Dooling physically flirt through challenging turns and high kicks finished off with jazz hands and dazzling smiles.

“Fall” (2008) is the one piece choreographed by Desmond Richardson on the program and is less dramatic than its title suggests.  The costumes by Epperson are interesting- long skirts with satin panels reminiscent of stained glass cut short in the front to show off the dancer’s legs.  Natalia Alonso, Patricia Hachey, and Wendy White Sasser dance wonderfully together, none outshining the other.

“Ave Maria” (1995) is a must-see piece and a must-have for a program of audience favorites.  Set to lovely operatic tones, the complex contemporary pas de deux is executed masterfully by dancers Hiroko Sakakibara and Simon Silva.  Certainly a favorite, the audience cheered like fans at a football game mid-ballet, and my dancer friend turned to me to ask, “Where’s my popcorn and beer?” 

Following intermission, Rise (2008) features multiple songs by the pop sensation U2, with pop/rock-star choreography to match.  With moments of brilliance, some of the choreography reminds me of recital dances, with dancers in simple lines and performing predictable cannons of movements. Most disappointing is that the song “Beautiful Day” is used merely for bows, though at this point the audience is standing, cheering enthusiastically. 

After 15 successful developing years I must admit, well done.  Complexions has succeeded in developing a unique culturally viable identity within the New York City landscape that has permeating influences in the world of dance through its advancement of contemporary ballet.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Lea McGowan
Performance: Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson
Venue: The Joyce Theater, New York City
Performance Date: Sunday November 22, 2009
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If you are in that camp that only wants to see super-human trinas with well-toned, to-die-for bodies, crazy extensions, and legs for days, then Complexions is the dance company to see.  For their 15th anniversary season at The Joyce Theater, Complexions presents four brand new works.  Tonight, I get the chance to witness two of them.

The evening begins with a piece called Dirty Wire choreographed by Co-Artistic Director, Dwight Rhoden, of course.  The piece starts with dancers standing in a straight vertical line in a pool of light shining from above.  The dancers burst out from the line, dancing to rock music in movement that is very signature "Rhoden" -very technical yet fluid combinations of lifts, 180 degree penchés, and perfect splits.  This piece is a series of intricate duets showcasing Rhoden’s complex movement style that I can’t take my eye’s off because the movement demands that you look, and, essentially, study it so that you know exactly what’s going on.  In general, all of the couples are well-connected to each other, flawlessly working in, out, and around each other’s bodies as if they are one person.  I am drawn to Christie Partelow and Edgar Anido’s movement as they prove to be a very daring couple, trusting their entire being into each other’s hands.  I thought to myself, "man, if they mess up, they are really gonna fall on each other!"  Amazing…  It is this sort of edge that I am loving.

For Dirty Wire, I am captivated as I am often when looking at Rhoden’s movement, but eventually my eyes grow accustomed to his vocabulary.  To my reluctant dismay, the entire piece morphs into a series of duets that begin to look the same as technique overshadows any individuality and movement becomes almost predictable because the piece has the same formula throughout making me only wonder why, why, why…  What is this piece really all about?   As a reviewer, I choose not to look at program descriptions before I begin to view a piece; I try to feel what the choreographer is saying without any preconceived notions by solely looking at the material presented in front of me.  However, because the movement rides on top of the music (and not truly "in" the music), and only at times hits certain accents that the music demands, and does not develop any ideas beyond the movement vocabulary itself, it leaves me confused.   Watching these gorgeous dancers, though, is truly inspiring; everyone is ecstatic at the end, as I am too, but I am left wondering if I am the only one searching for some answers (maybe not, though, for I do hear people around me flipping through pages of the program most likely to find some sort of piece description).

Opening the second half of the show is a piece called Mercy, also choreographed by Rhoden.  The dancers perform only the first and second movement (as the piece is a saga in it’s entirety).  The piece is danced to a medley of mixed sanctuary; Muslim prayers and church hymns are performed over each other in a interesting, funky mix.  The music is comprised of a number of artists including Phil Kline, Michael Murray, Steve Reich, Mendelssohn, and Hans Zimmer.  At first, I begin to think that I don’t see much difference in this piece than the first one as the movement is all very signature.  However, the piece eventually breaks out of the mold as dancers fan in and out, asking for "mercy," emerging from curtains from the back of the stage adding a great touch.

Complexions is full of VERY talented, uber-technical performers, but, because Mercy has more of a "contemporary edge," it is this piece where I begin to see the difference in performance qualities of the dancers.   Some of the dancers, mostly the females,  I frankly just don’t "believe."  Although their technique is nearly flawless, I leave this piece longing to see more connection in their faces and intention within their artistry.  I am also bothered at some points as the dancers don’t really stay together in some of the movement.  As far as the males, they kick “you know what” in this piece, jumping up and down with hands in prayer position, falling into second position splits, and rolling over the shoulder all over the stage.  Athleticism?  …Yes!  …The intention? …Well, interpretable.  It is awesome, however, to see Desmond Richardson emerge from the curtain (one of the finest, most talented dance artist alive today) as he does a remarkable job (showing us dancers how it’s done) wrapping intention, emotion, and technique in one performance.  Solo dancer, Gary W. Jeter II, also grabs my eye with his committed performance and fierce attack.  This rather lengthy piece ends with a section performed to "Amazing Grace" which, again, is another place where I don’t "believe," and I feel this cast of dancers’ disconnection from the work bothersome as they lip sync some of the words. 

Overall, Complexions has acquired a solid bunch of dancers who are really at the top of their game.  The dancers’ technique is highly inspiring and the choreography is definitely a demanding challenge for any world class dancer to want to master.  I am looking forward to the day that they find that happy medium, that performance optimum that merges flawless technique with human connection.  For if collectively they can perform their passion anywhere close to their co-founder, Desmond Richardson, I know, as a company, they will go far… real far.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Joi Lynn
Performance:  Complexions 
Co-Artistic Directors: Dwight Rhoden & Desmond Richardson
Choreography:  Dwight Rhoden
Venue:  The Joyce Theater
Show Date:  November 17, 2009

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“This is the greatest show,” boasts a balletomane sitting next to me as I flip through my program waiting for America Dances! , Career Transition for Dancers’ 24^th anniversary jubilee and celebration to begin; and, with a presenting sponsor as Rolex and a roster filled with the world’s most legendary dancers, I couldn’t imagine anything less.

What does follow however, are New York City Ballet’s stunning Ashley Bouder (affectionately referred to by us young ballet-fanatics as “The Bouder”) and Andrew Veyette in the aforementioned Balanchine piece.  The pas de deux is a perfect way to salute to our dance heritage by mixing the classic choreography with the dynamic bodies and strength of a new generation of dancers whose leaps, jumps and arabesques seem to reach beyond the dance soldiers that preceded them.

Another stand-out performance (among the myriad presented) is from Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Dance Company in The Dance of the Furies.  With strength and execution reminiscent (I imagine) of Isadora’s rich lyricism and tension, the movements depicts Rodin’s Gates of Hell, washed in flowing red fabric and abstraction.

The Lombard Twins provide their usual twist of multiplicity and talent with The Dance Concert.  Both Martin and Facundo are masters in the art of dancing from the inside out.  They clearly and passionately feel their movement, but making an audience sense the very same is something many young dancers lack.  Not here, though… Coined “free expression,” the twins, have the power to translate evocative movement into something that we all can enjoy.

Preceding the death-defying partnering of veteran Mark Stuart Eckstein and his beautiful partner, Miss Adealani Malia, are two young, talented dancers, barely four and a half feet tall, that delightfully surprise us all with a well-choreographed and highly entertaining salsa number.  Performing with such accuracy, such showmanship, such energy, such skill, these little future stars, Alexandra Gutkovitch and John Gaylan, are on point and are an absolute charm to watch!

Not much could top Mr. D’Amboise’s impromptu petite allegro, but Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet comes close with Jason Kittelberger’s and Acacia Schachte’s performance of Cold Song.  The entire theater is hushed as they sweep the floor with poetic movement, permeating an icy chill that leaves us frozen in wonder.

Other performances included the Parkour group Bullettrun, the choreography of Ann Marie DeAngelo, SYTYCD choreographer/Sonya Tayeh Dance, the company of M. Stuart Dance Theatre, Tony Waag’s Tap City Youth Ensemble, The Street Beats Group,  excerpts from Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, and a Tribute to Duke Ellington (featuring Mercedes Ellington).

Sprinkled throughout the show are accolades.  Receiving the Career Transition for Dancers’ Award for Outstanding Contributions to the World of Dance are two very important philanthropist to the dance world, Lawrence Herbert (presented by Jock Soto) and  Lloyd E. Rigler of the Lawrence E. Deustsch Foundation (presented by Valerie Harper).  Presented by Desmond Richardson, The Rolex Dance Award is given in honor of our beloved Patrick Swayze.  His wife, Lisa Niemi Swayze, genially accepts the award with heartfelt grace in an audience full of friends and family.

And that seems par the course in the dance world…  making sure that Career Transition for Dancers not only celebrates our sparkling heritage, but our uplifting future that evening… It seems that the dance community will always find a way to inspire hope even in the most desperate of times, whether it’s with generous donations, audience cheers, scholarships, or simply with the art itself…  And that, surely, is the greatest thing of all.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Joey Lico

Check out more of Joey Lico’s writings on www.prodiligo.com.

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Complexions Contemporary Ballet Returns to the Joyce Theater

For Its Milestone 15th Anniversary Season

Love, Sweat and Tears

November 17-29, 2009

Featuring Four Brand New Works,
Including Mercy and Dirty Wire by Dwight Rhoden

New York City, November 2, 2009 – Complexions Contemporary Ballet Artistic Directors and Co-Founders Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson have announced the official programming for the company’s landmark 15th anniversary season at The Joyce Theater, entitled Love Sweat and Tears, taking place November 17-29, 2009.

Over the past fifteen years, Dwight and Desmond have created in Complexions an institution that embodies its historical moment, a sanctuary where those passionate about dance can celebrate its past while simultaneously building its future. Aptly, this year’s three distinct programs celebrate the company’s versatility with an exhilarating mixture of old and new. With four exciting and relevant premieres that explore the myriad challenges of a world in transition, the fall Complexions season tackles everything from politics, war and technology to identity, uncertainty, hope and the creative process itself. 
 

New Works

Mercy
Choreograhy by: Dwight Rhoden
Music by: Phil Kline, Michael Murray, Steve Reich, Mendelssohn and Hans Zimmer

Dirty Wire
Choreographed by: Dwight Rhoden
Music by: David Rozenblatt

Mirror Me
Choreographed by: Juan-Antonio Rodriguez
Music by: Zoe Keating, One Cello x 16: Natoma, Fern

Atmosphere
Choreography by: Jae Man Joo
Music by: Johann Sebastian Bach

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Tuesday, November 17 at 7:30pm
Tuesday, November 24 at 7:30pm
Wednesday, November 18 at 7:30pm*
Wednesday, November 25 at 7:30pm
Thursday, November 19 at 8:00pm
Thursday, November 26 – OFF
Friday, November 20 at 8:00pm
Friday, November 27 at 8:00pm
Saturday, November 21 at 2:00pm
Saturday, November 28 at 2:00pm
Saturday, November 21 at 8:00pm
Saturday, November 28 at 8:00pm
Sunday, November 22 at 2:00pm
Sunday, November 29 at 2:00pm
Sunday, November 22 at 7:30pm
Sunday, November 29 at 7:30pm

*Followed by a special Dance Chat

TICKETS

Tickets start at $10.00. Tickets can be purchased by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800, in person at the Box Office (Monday – Friday 12-6pm), or online by visiting www.Joyce.org. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th street).

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