STAR DUST: From Bach to Bowie
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Friday, April 29, 2022 at 8pm
presented by Irvine Barclay Theatre
Sponsored by:
An Anonymous Fund of the Orange County Community Foundation
These activities are supported, in part, with funds provided by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), the California Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
This performance will include a 15-minute intermission.
FOUNDING CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
Dwight Rhoden & Desmond Richardson
INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Muadi B. Dibinga
PRINCIPAL CHOREOGRAPHER
Dwight Rhoden
ARTISTIC ADVISORS
Carmen de Lavallade & Sarita Allen
REHEARSAL DIRECTORS
Jae Man Joo, Meg Paul, Clifford Williams
COMPANY REPETITEUR
Clifford Williams
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR & RESIDENT LIGHTING DESIGNER
Michael Korsch
COMPANY MANAGER
Alanna Swovelin
RESIDENT COSTUME DESIGNER
Christine Darch
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
Luke Woods/Spencer Saccoman
LIGHTING SUPERVISOR
Joseph Walls/C.C. Gould
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Christina Dooling, Gary W. Jeter II, Christina Johnson, Jae Man Joo, Natiya Kezevadze, Terk Lewis, Clifford Williams
THE COMPANY
Jacopo Calvo, Jillian Davis, Vincenzo Di Primo, Thomas Dilley, Larissa Gerszke, Joe Gonzalez, Brandon Gray, Tatiana Melendez, Khayr Muhammad, Simon Plant, Zion Pradier, Miguel Solano, Tim Stickney, Eriko Sugimura, April Watson
Apprentices: Emma Branson, Christian Burse, Aidan Wolf
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Everick Brown, Dwight Rhoden, Desmond Richardson, Carl Nelson, Sarah Picot, Felicia Swoope
NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD
Debbie Allen, Angela Bassett, Wren T. Brown, Elizabeth Roxas Dobrish, Susan Jaffe, Carmen de Lavallade, Lisa Niemi Swayze, Courtney B. Vance, Pauletta Washington
STAFF
Interim Executive Director: Muadi B. Dibinga
Company Manager: Alanna Swovelin
Complexions Academy Director: Meg Paul
Complexions Academy Manager: Monica Montaño
Development Associate: Danni Gee
Press: GOGO Public Relations and Marketing
Photographers: Steven Trumon Gray, Jae Man Joo, Rachel Neville, Steve Vaccariello
Company Accompanists: Adrià Barbosa, Ai Isshiki, Ray Leslee, Sorin Frisan
Videographer: Jacob Hiss
REPRESENTATION
MARGARET SELBY
SELBY/ARTISTS MGMT
262 West 38th Street, Suite 1701
New York, NY 10018
Office: 212-382-3260 | mselby@selbyartistsmgmt.com
COMPLEXIONS CONTEMPORARY BALLET
244 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2875
New York, NY 10001
www.complexionsdance.org
World Premiere: April 2018 - Arcata, CA
Choreography by: Dwight Rhoden
Music by: Johann Sebastian Bach & Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Lighting Design by: Michael Korsch
Costumes Design by: Christine Darch
Performed by: The Company
Program Note: Reverence, Celebration, Moxie.
-INTERMISSION-
World Premiere: May 2016/ Detroit, MI
A Ballet Tribute to David Bowie
Choreography by: Dwight Rhoden
Music by: David Bowie
Lighting Design by: Michael Korsch
Costumes Design by: Christine Darch
Performed by: The Company
I. LAZARUS(Blackstar album, 2016)
Brandon Gray & The Company
II. CHANGES(Hunky Dory album, 1971)
Joe Gonzalez & The Company
III. LIFE ON MARS(Hunky Dory album, 1971)
Thomas Dilley & The Company
IV. SPACE ODDITY (Space Oddity album, 1969)
Jillian Davis & The Company
V.1984 (Diamond Dogs album, 1974)
Tim Stickney & The Company
VI. HEROES (Heroes album, 1977)
Sung by Peter Gabriel
Jillian Davis, Brandon Gray, Joe Gonzalez, Tatiana Melendez, Miguel Solano
VII. MODERN LOVE (Let’s Dance album, 1983)
Miguel Solano & The Company
VIII. ROCK AND ROLL SUICIDE (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars album, 1972)
Simon Plant & The Company
IX. YOUNG AMERICANS (Young Americans album, 1975)
The Company
Program Note: STAR DUST is the first installment of a full evening-length ballet tribute to the genre-bending innovation of one of the prolific rock stars of our time — DAVID BOWIE. This ballet takes an array of his hits and lays a visual imprint, inspired by his unique personas and his restless invention artistically — to create a rock opera-style production in his honor. With Bowie’s 40+ year career and 25 albums that stretch across musical borders — STAR DUST pays homage to the iconic and chameleon-like spirit of what can only be described as... BOWIE.
* STAR DUST was generously commissioned by Detroit's Music Hall.
Special Thanks to Vince Paul
Music credits
“Warszawa,” Written by David Bowie & Brian Eno Published by Tintoretto Music (BMI) administered by RZO Music, Inc EMI Music Publishing Ltd | “Lazarus.“ Written by David Bowie, Publishers: Nipple Music (BMI) administered by RZO Music, Inc. | “Changes,” Written by David Bowie, Published by Tintoretto Music (BMI) administered by RZO Music, Inc; EMI Music Publishing Ltd; BMG Blue (BMI) obo Chrysalis Music Ltd | “Life on Mars?,” Written by David Bowie, Published by Tintoretto Music (BMI) administered by RZO Music, Inc; EMI Music Publishing Ltd; BMG Blue (BMI) obo Chrysalis Music Ltd | “1984,” Written by David Bowie, Published by Jones Music America (ASCAP) administered by ARZO Publishing; Bewlay Brothers Music; EMI Music Publishing Ltd; BMG Blue (BMI) obo Chrysalis Music Ltd | “Heroes,” Written by David Bowie & Brian Eno, Published by Tintoretto Music (BMI) administered by RZO Music, Inc; EMI Music Publishing Ltd | “Modern Love,” Written by David Bowie, Published by Jones Music America (ASCAP) administered by ARZO Publishing | “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide,” Written by David Bowie, Published by Tintoretto Music (BMI) administered by RZO Music, Inc; EMI Music Publishing Ltd; BMG Blue (BMI) obo Chrysalis Music Ltd | “The Young Americans,” Written by David Bowie, Published by Jones Music America (ASCAP) administered by ARZO Publishing; Bewlay Brothers Music; EMI Music Publishing Ltd; BMG Blue (BMI) obo Chrysalis Music Ltd
Hailed as a “matchless American dance company” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Complexions Contemporary Ballet transcends dance tradition through a groundbreaking approach to the art. Founded in 1994 by master choreographer Dwight Rhoden and the legendary Desmond Richardson, Complexions’ foremost innovation is to remove boundaries, not reinforce them. The company blends methods, styles and cultures from across the globe, and the result is a continually evolving form of dance that reflects the movement of our world — and all its cultures — as an interrelated whole.
Complexions’ artistic directors and company members teach master classes around the world to dancers of all levels, bringing the company's inventive vision of human movement to five continents, over 20 countries and over 20 million television viewers. The company has also performed at major dance festivals throughout Europe. These include Italy’s Festival of Dance; France’s Isle De Dance Festival and Maison De La Dance Festival; the Holland Dance Festival; Switzerland’s Steps International Dance Festival; Poland’s kódź Biennale, Warsaw Ballet Festival, and Kraków Spring Ballet Festival; and Spain’s Dance Festival of Canary Islands. Complexions has toured extensively throughout the Baltic Regions, Korea, Brazil, Japan, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Israel, Russia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Serbia, Jamaica, and Australia.
Complexions Contemporary Ballet has received The New York Times Critics’ Choice Award, among numerous other awards. It has appeared in theaters across the U.S., including the Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New Victory Theater (New York City), the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts (New Orleans), Paramount Theatre (Seattle), The Music Center (Los Angeles), Winspear Opera House (Dallas), Cutler Majestic Theatre (Boston), the Music Hall (Detroit), and the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.) as part of the 2017 Ballet Across America. Prominent theaters abroad that have hosted Complexions include the Bolshoi Theatre, the Kremlin Theatre (Moscow), The Mikhailovsky Theater (St. Petersburg), and the Melbourne Arts Center.
In the 27 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. Today, Complexions Contemporary Ballet represents one of the most recognized and respected performing arts brands in the world. It is poised to continue its mission of bringing unity to the world, one dance at a time.
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