FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2015
Media Contact: Dance Affiliates Anne-Marie Mulgrew, Director of Education & Special Projects
215-636-9000 ext. 110, Annemarie@danceaffiliates.org
Editors: Images are available upon request.
COMPLEXIONS CONTEMPORARY BALLET KICKS OFF
NEXTMOVE AT THE PRINCE
WITH THREE PHILADELPHIA PREMIERES
(Philadelphia, PA) Under the direction of former Ailey superstars Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson,
Complexions Contemporary Ballet (CCB) launches Dance Affiliates’ inaugural NextMove Series,
October 14-18 in six performances, the Prince Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street. Program highlights include three
Philadelphia premieres choreographed by Dwight Rhoden and repertoire favorites showcasing Rhoden’s unprecedented
approach to contemporary ballet.
Performances take place Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30pm; Thursday, October 15 at 7:30pm; Friday, October 16 at
8pm; Saturday, October, 17 at 2pm and 8pm; and Sunday, October 18 at 3pm. Tickets cost $20-$57 and can be
purchased in person at the Prince Theater Box Office, by phone 215-422-4580 by email boxoffice@princetheater.org or
on line http://princetheater.org/complexions
The program opens with Rhoden’s And So It Is … a large scale, full company neo-classical work performed en pointe to
Johann Sebastian Bach. This piece explores a passionate tale about love, connection, and intimacy. In contrast, Strum,
set to American rock band Metallica’s classic songs “Bleeding Me,” “Fixxxer” and “The Memory” addresses themes of life,
love and death. Innervisions, the third premiere, is an entertaining fun-loving romp featuring dancers in white shorts and
colorful tops moving to Stevie Wonders’ upbeat pop music. In addition, CCB performs a suite of five short works including
Gone, a trio for three men; Cryin’ to Cry Out, set to Jimmy Scott’s haunting jazz music; Choke, a duet for two men to
Vivaldi; Testament, a riveting pas de deux originally performed by Desmond Richardson to “Amazing Grace” and Solo.
Innervisions and Strum will be performed on alternate days.
Dance Magazine notes "Rhoden's work is post-Balanchinean choreography, a new aesthetic in movement, stage picture,
and performance concepts reflecting a post-modern, techno-savvy worldview."
Randy Swartz, Artistic Director of Dance Affiliates notes, “There’s a lot of discussion in the press about dance not
representing the face of America. We are thrilled to open NextMove with Complexions. Complexions represents
America’s melting pot in terms of repertoire, dance styles as well as the dancers themselves. It makes for an exciting,
eclectic evening in the theater.”
About Complexions
Founded by the two former Alvin Ailey virtuosos Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson in 1994, Complexions’
groundbreaking mix of methods, styles, cultures has created an entirely new and exciting vision of human movement over
the past 20 years. The company’s innovation is that dance should be about removing boundaries, not reinforcing them.
Whether it is the limiting traditions of a single style, period, venue or culture, Complexions transcends them all, creating an
open, continually evolving form of dance that reflects the movement of our world. Complexions has made several
appearances on “So You Think You Can Dance” in the U.S. and Canada, performed live at the 2015 Sundance Film
festival as guests of Robert Redford, collaborated with American Ballet Theater soloist, Misty Copeland and toured
extensively to Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Israel, Russia, Switzerland, Italy, Korea and Canada.
Dwight Rhoden (Choreographer/Co-Founder)
A native of Dayton, Ohio who began dancing at age 17, Dwight Rhoden has performed with Dayton Contemporary Dance
Company, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal and as a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Since 1994
Rhoden’s choreography has been the lynchpin in the development of the Complexions repertory, having created 80
ballets for Complexions, as well as numerous works for renowned companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance
Theater, The Arizona Ballet, The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Company, The Dance Theater of Harlem, Dayton Contemporary
Dance Company, The Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, The Pennsylvania Ballet, and Philadanco, He has also directed
and choreographed for TV, film, theater and live performances including So You Think You Can Dance, E!
Entertainment’s “Tribute to Style,” Amici, and Cirque Du Soleil’s Zumanity, and choreographed and appeared in the
feature film “One Last Dance.” He has also worked with, and/or created works for such high-profile artists as Prince,
Lenny Kravitz, Kelly Clarkson, ELEW, David Rozenblatt, Nicholas Payton, The Drifters, Paul Simon, Billy Strayhorn, Nina
Simone, Marvin Gaye, U2, The Turtle Creek Chorus, and Patrick Swayze.
Support for Dance Affiliates
Dance Affiliates’ inaugural NextMove Series is supported by the Friends of Dance (Affiliates), National Dance Project of
the New England Foundation for the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and the William Penn Foundation. State arts
funding is received through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency.
Dance Affiliates
Founded in 1979 by artistic director Randy Swartz, Dance Affiliates is one of the nation’s few remaining dance-only
presenters. Dance Affiliates was known internationally for its award-winning annual Dance Celebration program copresented with Annenberg Center which was Philadelphia’s longest-running series of world-class contemporary dance for
the past 32-years. Having presented more than 200 companies in 1,500 performances, Dance Affiliates provides a
wealth of opportunities for the Philadelphia–area community to interact with visiting dance artists through master classes,
residencies, artistic collaborations, symposiums, film screenings, workshops, special student programs and pre- and postperformance curtain talks. Through more than 600 outreach programs, 30,000 students and aspiring dancers have been
served. Visit www.danceaffiliates.org
For More Information or Interviews:
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Dance Affiliates, Anne-Marie Mulgrew
215-636-9000 Ext. 110 annemarie@danceaffiliates.org