Complexions Contemporary Ballet Comes To The Phillips Center 1/13/2010

Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden, founders of the barrier-breaking dance company Complexions Contemporary Ballet, bring their highly talented troupe to the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Wednesday, January 13.

It is artistic directors Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden's lifelong appreciation for the artistic and aesthetic appeal of the multicultural that forms the cornerstone of Complexion Contemporary Ballet's singular approach to reinventing dance. Founded by the two former Alvin Ailey members in 1994, Complexions' groundbreaking mix of methods, styles and cultures has created an entirely new and exciting vision of human movement over the past decade-and-a-half.
The company's foremost innovation is that dance should be about removing boundaries, not reinforcing them. Whether it be 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 - and all its constituent cultures - as an interrelated whole.

It is Rhoden and Richardson's unique career paths that have paved the way for them to redefine dance - as their multifaceted resumes will show, neither has ever been comfortable with his art being placed in a box. Instead, from E! to PBS to VH1, from Cirque du Soleil to the Joffrey Ballet, the two have allowed the transformative power of their art to flow freely throughout the entertainment world - their creative vision restricted by nothing but the limits of the human body itself.

Together, Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson 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. In the 15 years since its inception, the company has born witness to a world that is becoming more fluid, more changeable, and more culturally interconnected than ever before - in other words, a world that is becoming more and more like Complexions itself.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Wednesday, January 13, 7:30 p.m.
Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

Ticket Prices: $28.50-$44.50

Web sites:
University of Florida Performing Arts: www.performingarts.ufl.edu

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