DANCE/PERFORMING ARTS
Eloquent body language from Complexions Ballet Company
Friday, January 5, 2007
By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER
WHO: Complexions Ballet Company.
WHAT: Dance.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, through Jan. 14.
WHERE: Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave., Manhattan; 212-242-0800, joyce.org or complexionsdance.org.
HOW MUCH: $42.
Complexions Ballet Company co-artistic director Desmond Richardson was surprised to see a familiar name listed in the program at an AIDS dance benefit event a few years ago.
Taye Diggs, once a student at the STEPS dance workshop run by Richardson and co-artistic director Dwight Rhoden, had choreographed one of the dances.
Diggs, famous for his film and television acting roles ("Chicago"; "Day Break"), is also a strong, if underrated, dancer. He wrote a solo for Richardson,
"Loose Change," that will be making its New York debut in the Complexions performance in New York this week.
"The universe conspired for us to be able to work together at this point in time," Richardson said with a laugh. He has been hoping to work with Diggs since he rediscovered his former pupil.
"Loose Change" is only one of four premieres at this Joyce Theater performance. Former Complexions member Jodie Gates will return with a short piece for four dancers, set to composer Alan Terricciano's improvised score for cello and piano. The dance itself will have strong elements of improvisation.
"A lot of the work I do is structured improvisation," Gates said. Dancers will have the initiative during the performances to work off the live music and each other, enacting choreographed movement in appropriate moments.
"It makes [the dancers] have to be incredibly hyper-aware of each other," Gates said of the style. Gates, a dancer for 25 years, is a veteran of that style herself, having spent four years under the direction of William Forsythe at the Ballett Frankfurt. The new piece, "Barely Silent," was inspired by Gates' observations of body language in exchanges between strangers. "The way we react when we meet a person for the first time is the most authentic and transparent way of communicating," she said. "I picked out gestures of people at restaurants and bars and made those movements the center of the piece."
Gates, who began choreographing in 1999, feels that her style is still developing but is glad to have the opportunity to work with Rhoden and Richardson again. They encourage all their dancers to develop multiple creative talents, including costume design, acting and choreography.
Complexions dancer Matthew Prescott will also debut his new duet piece, "This Heart," set to the music of Sinead O'Connor. "He's relatively a new voice, but he worked on some pieces last time," Rhoden said.
Rhoden's own new work, "Chapters," is a dramatic dance narrative set to the music of Marvin Gaye. Although the piece will eventually become a full evening ballet, Rhoden has finished a complete set of vignettes for this performance at the Joyce.
"It's a preview of what this work will be in the 2008-2009 season," he said. "The story may not be entirely clear, but the performance gives you an idea of the overall sweep of it."
The current version begins in the second act, when four New York men returning from active duty must pick up where they left off in their lives before going to war. "They're forced to face the realities of their lives," Rhoden said. "We see their relationships, their loves and their hidden stories."
Rhoden has always been a fan of Gaye's music and had certain songs in mind as he wrote and choreographed the story. "Everything he was talking about in his songs relates to the same struggles we're dealing with today," he said. "It's about love, violence and war, and why can't there be more love in the world?"
The new work will have the company members flexing their acting muscles, Richardson said. "It will be especially beneficial for our younger dancers, who might not have done that much theatrical work in the past," he said. "They also may not have experienced the music itself."