SUMMERSTAGE Dance Presents Complexions Contemporary Ballet 8/10

City Parks Foundation proudly brings Complexions Contemporary Ballet to SummerStage as a part of our 25th anniversary season for a special two day performance. Join SummerStage and watch this highly acclaimed dance troupe as they premiere "On Holiday", an exceptional piece commisoned by City Parks Foundation featuring the music of Billie Holiday as performed by Broadway legend, Billy Porter.

Below are details on both programs to be performed.

Where: SummerStage in Central Park, Manhattan
When: Tues, August 10 from 8:00 - 10:00 pm
8:00 PM - 8:30 PM: Dancin' Downtown Winners Perform
8:30PM - 10:00 PM: Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Artist Website: http://complexionsdance.org/
Complexions Contemporary Ballet is a company dedicated to removing boundaries and transcending the limits of performance. Artistic directors Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson's lifelong appreciation for the artistic and aesthetic appeal of the multicultural forms the cornerstone of Complexions Contemporary Ballet's approach. Complexions' mix of methods, style and cultures has produced an entirely new and exciting movement: an open, continually evolving form of dance reflecting the movement of our world.

Artist Website: http://www.dradance.org/ddatj2010/ddatj2010.html
Dancin' Downtown at The Joyce Theater, produced by Dancers Responding to AIDS is the only competition providing dance students the opportunity to be seen by such a diverse and distinguished group of dance luminaries on one of the most prestigious dance stages in New York City - The Joyce Theater. This unique competition benefits Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA), a program of Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS. Watch the top two winning groups of this contest perform a short piece on the famed SummerStage and get a glimpse into the freshest faces of dance today.

Program:

Mercy (2009)

Mercy is an epic work with abstractions depicting passion and kindly forbearance with a yearning for grace and permanence in the sacred and spiritual deliverance of mankind. It poses the question - what degree does humanity have to go to in order for there to be some kind of relief?

Moonlight (1991, excerpt)

Moonlight is a powerful and dynamic solo for Desmond Richardson. It is an excerpt of the full length ballet FRAMES which premiered in 1991. Choreographed by Dwight Rhoden, Rhoden also wrote the music for Moonlight. The song is performed by Kemp Harris.

ON HOLIDAY (2010, premiere)

On Holiday is a special commissioned piece for City Parks Foundation's SummerStage and is a work that uses classic jazz songs made famous by Billy Holiday - such as Come Rain or Come Shine, Good Morning Heartache, Lover Man - Oh Where Can You Be, My Man (Mon Homme) , One for My Baby and One More For The Road, and Let's Call the Whole Thing Off.

This octet for 4 couples is an interpretation of each song by a group of lovers that wonder into various moments of their lives to experience each other in their private realities. On Holiday takes its lead from the classic American Jazz songs that bring the heart and soul of the love affairs to the surface and dive deep into the intimacy that makes loving someone irresistible. Essentially a collection of pas de deux - On Holiday gives each lush and sensual pairing a journey that eventually takes them to evocative and requited love.

INTERMISSION

RISE (2008)

Rise explores the dizzying journey of life in all its complexity and ecstasy. The songs of U2 that have become the anthems of a generation give voice to the challenges and triumphs encountered by a group of voyagers in a dream-world where imagination and love prevail.
Where: SummerStage in East River Park Park, Manhattan
When: Sat, August 14 from 7:00 - 10:00 pm
7:00PM - 8:00PM: Open World Jazz dance class with Cecilia Marta
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Wideman/Davis Dance
9:00PM - 10:00 PM: Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Artist Website: http://web.mac.com/tlaurentd/Wideman_Davis_Dance/Enter_page.html

Wideman/Davis Dance is a company that brings different artists together to create dialogue about the human condition, by using dance as its central voice but not sole voice. Wideman/Davis Dance is interested in bridging cultural gaps through dance by bringing all communities and ethnicities together to view dance in its contemporary aesthetic. The company is committed to creating work that is accessible to audiences of all ages, by blurring the lines between dance, theatre, and reality.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet Program:

ON HOLIDAY (2010, premiere)

**Please note that Billy Porter will not be performing at this show**

See above for details.

INTERMISSION

RISE (2008, shortened version)

See above for details.

About SummerStage
In June, 1986, Central Park SummerStage was launched with a free performance from Sun Ra and the Omniverse Jet Set Arkestra. In 1990, City Parks Foundation began programming free concerts in neighborhood parks under the name CityParks Concerts. In 2006, City Parks Foundation began CityParks Dance and CityParks Theater. Today, City Parks Foundation is combining all of these initiatives under the banner of SummerStage, a city-wide festival of over 100 music, dance and theater events in 16 parks in all five boroughs. It will be one of the largest, most geographical diverse and thematically broad festivals in the nation. Over 200,000 people are expected to attend the free festival.

For the most up-to-date scheduling and full line-up for all SummerStage programming, visit http://www.SummerStage.org

City Parks Foundation (CPF) is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer park programs throughout the five boroughs of New York City. We work in over 750 parks citywide, presenting a broad range of free arts, sports, and education programs, and empowering citizens to support their parks on a local level. Our programs and community building initiatives reach more than 600,000 people each year, contributing to the revitalization of neighborhoods throughout New York City.