Complexions Contemporary Ballet Review: Program B
November 29, 2022 | The Joyce Theater – New York, NY, USA
As Complexions has been on the New York City dance scene for 28 years under the direction of Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, there is no doubt the small company has taken that time to prove numbers are never the sign of strength and the company includes some of the fiercest performers out there.
Complexions has been taking over The Joyce since November 22nd (and will be there through December 4th) for their two-week season presenting mixed bill works, full-length repertoire, and a collaboration with their professional program and American Ballet Theatre’s JKO School students.
Complexions is truly doing the most for diversity and inclusion.
Tuesday’s mixed bill program included four short works and a full-length world premiere choreographed by Rhoden and Richardson. While some of the ballets left a stronger lasting impression than others, the greatest takeaway as a critic was that Complexions is truly doing the most for diversity and inclusion.
Dancers of all races and body types were visually represented on the stage and it’s rare to see that wide of a range of performers in a ballet company. It gave the bill more texture and flair, although throughout the evening’s program I noticed the same handful of dancers were continuously featured while others remained in the background. I do wish I could have seen some of the other dancers featured equally, as I feel it would have added more to the performance.
Program B opened with an excerpt from Snatched Back from the Edges choreographed by Rhoden. In his signature stand-out Complexions style, the piece was flashy and a demonstration of the company’s warrior-like strength. Over the years, Rhoden has found a formula that works for his choreography and has continued to put it to the test successfully. However, something bothered me about the dancers wearing his unique movement.
It felt as if all of the performers were putting too much effort into showcasing their abilities that many of the steps appeared forced and heavy. The result was that it seemed the dancers were trying to outperform one another and it felt as if there were few moments where the company truly moved as one and connected with each other on the stage, even during the unison phrases.
The fierce company opening number was followed up with a world premiere pas de deux titled System choreographed by Francesca Harper.
Performed that evening by Tatiana Melendez and Miguel Solano, the pas told a story about a Black woman living in Virginia legally unable to marry her white male lover due to segregation laws at the time. Harper decided to tell the story by combining the recognizable tune of Air on a G String by Bach with a sound recording from a 1967 ABC News Report of the woman in Virginia sharing her heartbreaking story.
While the concept was clever, I felt it could have been executed more thoughtfully. The dancers felt disconnected from each other making rare eye contact and the choreography likewise didn’t reflect the story being told on the audio. Oftentimes, it felt as if the intricate partnering steps were created before the music or the audio was chosen and placed on top of the track.
Likewise, I felt it strange for this story to be cast with two Hispanic dancers. Complexions has phenomenal Black female performers that I feel would have been a better casting choice to represent the story.
The male pas was a suspended breath sustained through a wall of complete silence in the theatre.
The world premiere of Serenity choreographed by Jae Man Joo and performed by Thomas Dilley and Vincenzo Di Primo was exactly its title – the male pas was a suspended breath sustained through a wall of complete silence in the theatre.
Dilley and Di Primo stunned me with effortless technique and an irresistible stage presence. The simplest movements – an unembellished arm gesture, a regal développé – conveyed a strong emotion of frustrated desire. The two performed with professional ease and confidence while floating effortlessly through the more intricate passes of choreography including lofty synchronized triple turns and embraces and lifts packed with emotion.
In one moment, Dilley defied all laws of physics as he moved from a place of complete stillness into a turn into an impressive backward handstand flip, completely defying gravity while hanging still for a moment as he was completely inverted.
Because the choreography was not a relentless stream of tricks and had an ebb-and-flow quality to it, the moments where the dancers showed off their skills left a stronger impression on me. Dilley and Di Primo wore Joo’s choreography and Christine Darch’s simple but stunning costume design proudly, and the serene moment in the theater nearly moved me to tears.
The soft moment briefly passed behind, as it was followed by a pas by William Forsythe including high legs, angular lines, and atonal music composed by Gavin Bryars.
Although the tall dancers Jillian Davis and Joe González dominated the stage with their intense presences and infinite lines, it felt as if they were struggling through passes of the sharp choreography. I’m not sure if Forsythe was the best repertory choice for the dancers at Complexions as I feel their talented dancers could have shone if cast in a different starring role.
Finally, the program concluded with the world premiere of Endgame/Love One choreographed by Rhoden and Richardson.
Over the past year, I’ve noticed a rising trend of companies taking their own spin on creating a full-length contemporary ballet to pop 21st-century music. Some of the productions I’ve seen with this theme have been a thrilling success and others have missed the mark. As I continue to witness the pop-ballet concept on the rise, the recipe for its success is usually for the chaos to have an order amongst it: a theme, a mood, a statement.
For me, Complexion’s rendition of this theme left me confused and disappointed. The music tracks included songs by Panic! At the Disco, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, Peter Gregson, Måneskin – and even Bach – and the result was too cluttered.
Any sense of a returning theme was lost in the head-to-toe glitter disco-themed costumes. The music tracks varied too greatly in mood from each other. And the choreography didn’t help the rough transitions flow. However, the two dancers from Serenity – Dilley and Di Primo – continued to stand out from the company with their calm attitude amid the intense choreography.
Featured Photo for this Complexions Contemporary Ballet review of Thomas Dilley and Vincenzo Di Primo in Jae Man Joo’s Serenity. Photo by Steven Pisano.
Im not sure if you are aware but this piece was choreographed by Francesca Harper who is black. She is the one who chose the dancers, therefore, not the dancers or the artistic director’s fault. I’m going to assume that Harper felt those dancers, that she chose, had the technical and artistic talent/capabilities to perform her work. You don’t know if the other dancers that YOU would’ve preferred had the ability to do her vision or a partner that was available and matched them strength wise. Partnering is hard and one has to take into consideration height, proportions, chemistry etc. again, we will not know why Harper selected those dancers so to blame the dancers or even Rhoden for something that was out of their control is not fair. I was also there on Tuesday and the dancers performed exquisitely. The audience loved it. A Resounding standing ovation. Dance is a subjective art so there will be a multitude of opinions, so hopefully yours won’t keep audiences from attending this show and enjoying these beautiful dancers.