The Complexions Contemporary Ballet celebrated their 21st season at New York's Joyce Theater and I made sure to go see them. While I...

The Complexions Contemporary Ballet celebrated their 21st season at New York's Joyce Theater and I made sure to go see them. While I've seen ballet companies before, I was excited to see a multicultural version of a ballet company.

Note: I was invited as media and received tickets for review purposes. Any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

We attended a Sunday showing which was perfect for families, since it was a nice selection of performances including BALLAD UNTO… (NYC Premiere) and STRUM (NYC Premiere).



BALLAD UNTO was an amazing show of body and story telling. BALLAD UNTO is about unrequited love set to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue

Then we watched the STRUM performance, which was phenomenal. The combination of rock music (Metallica) and ballet moves (modern and classic) was unlike anything I ever seen.

After the performances ended, we had a long talk about bodies and seeing different races of people dancing together. For a multi race family like mine, this was a VERY interesting and important conversation.

The reality is while ballet is a wonderful performance art, it does lack a bit in the diversity area. So what the Complexions Contemporary Ballet has been able to accomplish for over 20 years is SO important on so many levels.


To learn more about how they do this, I was able to interview Desmond Richardson, CoFounder/CoArtistic Director for Complexions Contemporary Ballet.

What age to introduced children to world of dance?

Desmond Richardson: I would say 3-4yrs old when their bodies are developing and they are able to engage with movement and music. It is a great age since they are very interested in music and how movement coincides with sounds.

How has Complexions kept being a "multicultural" ballet? And why it's important?

Desmond Richardson: Well , it continues to be a journey, Dwight Rhoden, our choreographer/co-founder and I believe the name says it all, within Complexions there are many differences, qualities and textures to what these different people bring to the table.

We celebrate all by creating a platform where these performers can explore their unique selves. That individuality and passion for their art form is relatable to the audience as they witness a united front on stage bringing forth beauty, elegance and high powered visceral dancing .

How do you decided what styles to use for a performance?

Desmond Richardson: All those styles you mentioned exist in our main repertoire, Dwight Rhoden shares my belief that we use all those genres of dance to convey the stories he wants to tell within his works.

Different styles evoke different emotions and being well versed in them creates a healthy palate of investigation and interest for those who view our performances.

Why should young men think of ballet as an interest?

Desmond Richardson: We all know the idea for young men to dance is societal and stigma based and I'm hopeful those walls are on the continuum to be broken down.

Young men should look at dance as an interest for the following reasons:

1. If it's your Passion.
2. It's important to know your body as a human being, period.
3. Dancers are athletes and share the same physicality as all the sports do.
4. It keeps you looking much younger than people your age.

What next goals for Complexions to reach?

Desmond Richardson: The future is bright for Complexions Contemporary Ballet ,celebrating our 21st season this year we look Beyond20 to creating our training school where students from all over the world can come to train in our specific brand of Contemporary Ballet and investigate their creativity!

Our goals continue to be lofty and I won't divulge all just yet but I will say, keep a look out for Complexions as we will be coming to you from many different areas as we stay in gratitude for your support.

Thank you so much to Desmond and the Complexions Ballet company. My son is now a ballet fan!

For more infomation, visit - www.complexionsdance.org