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Tonight's performance

February 4, 2023

 

FOUNDING CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
Dwight Rhoden & Desmond Richardson

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Meg Paul

PRINCIPAL CHOREOGRAPHER
Dwight Rhoden

INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Muadi B. Dibinga

ARTISTIC ADVISORS
Carmen de Lavallade & Sarita Allen

 

REHEARSAL DIRECTORS
Meg Paul, Jae Man Joo

RESIDENT LIGHTING DESIGNER
Michael Korsch

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION & LIGHTING SUPERVISOR
Joseph Walls

COMPANY MANAGER
Monica Montaño

RESIDENT COSTUME DESIGNER
Christine Darch

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
Jacob Wexler

ASSOCIATE COMPANY MANAGER
Taylor Craft

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Natiya Kezevadze, Terk Lewis, Kelly Marsh IV, Timothy Stickney

 

THE COMPANY

Alberto Andrade, Christian Burse, Jacopo Calvo, Kobe Atwood Courtney, Jasmine Heart Cruz, Jillian Davis, Vincenzo Di Primo, Thomas Dilley, Joe González, Harrison Knostman, Mary Ann Massa, Marissa Mattingly, Tatiana Melendez, Miguel Solano, Lucy Stewart, Candy Tong (leave of absence), April Watson

Apprentices: Angelo De Serra, Elijah Mack, Carmina Ballesteros


WOKE

2019
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden
Music: Various Artists
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Sound Design: Corey Folta
Performed By: The Company

MUSIC CREDITS
“Ball of Confusion” (That's What the World is Today), Written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing | “Killing Spree“, Written by Daniel T. Alston, Robert Bryson Hall II, Arjun Ivatury, and Thomas Vontae, Published by Empire Music Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music | “Pray”, Written by Larrance Dopson, Timothy Mosley, James Napier, Darryl Pearson, Sam Smith, and Jose Valasquez, Published by Anthem Entertainment, Downtown Music Publishing, Peermusic, Sony/ATV Music Publishing | “Rank & File”, Written by Ludwig Goransson and Moses Sumney, Published by Ludovin Music, Kobalt Music Group, Warner/Chappell Music | “Doomed”, Written by Matthew Kolaitis and Moses Sumney, Published by Domino Publishing, Kobalt Music Group | “Mona Lisa”, Written by Angel Aponte, Dwayne Carter, Kendrick Duckworth, Diaz Marco Antonio Rodriguez, Published by Concord Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music | “I’ll Take Care of You”, Written by Brook Benton , Published by Third Side Music | “Peace Piece”, Written by Bill Evans, Published by Tro Essex Music Group

PROGRAM NOTE
A physical reaction to the daily news.

WOKE was generously commissioned in part by Detroit's Music Hall.
Special thanks to Meg Paul and Vince Paul.

 

– INTERMISSION –

 

LOVE ROCKS

2020
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden
Music: Lenny Kravitz
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Sound Design: Corey Folta
Performed by: The Company

MUSIC CREDITS

“We Can Get It All Together", "I Belong to You", "Take Time", “Fly Away”, "Calling All Angels", "Riding On the Wings of My Lord", “It’s Enough”, “Here to Love”

All written by Leonard A. Kravitz with permission of BMG Gold Songs. “Are You Gonna Go My Way”

Written by Leonard A. Kravitz and Craig David Ross with permission of BMG Gold Songs and Wigged Music Rights/Clearances: BZ/Rights & Permissions, Inc.

PROGRAM NOTE
"We've got to dance and be in love." - Lenny Kravitz

Special thanks to Lenny Kravitz.


 

COMPLEXIONS CONTEMPORARY BALLET

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
Complexions Academy Director: Meg Paul
Company & Academy Manager: Monica Montaño
Associate Company Manager and Media Creative Coordinator: Taylor Craft
Production Associate: Jillian Davis
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

About the Company

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 28 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.

Who's Who in the Company

DWIGHT RHODEN (Co-Founder, Co-Artistic Director, Principal Choreographer) has established a remarkably wide-ranging career, earning distinction from The New York Times as “one of the most sought out choreographers of the day.” A native of Dayton, Ohio, Rhoden began dancing at age seventeen. Rhoden has performed with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz De Montreal, and as a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 1994, Rhoden and Desmond Richardson founded COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet. They have brought their unique brand of contemporary dance to the world for over two decades.

Under Rhoden’s direction, COMPLEXIONS has become a dance institution high in demand, as a center for innovation and cutting-edge programming. Rhoden’s choreography has been the lynchpin of the development of COMPLEXIONS repertory. “Musicality, innovation, purpose, consistency, a brilliant use of stage space and the ability to tell a story—all these qualities make [Rhoden] one of today's elect choreographers” (Los Angeles Times). Since 1994, Rhoden has created over 80 ballets for COMPLEXIONS, as well as for numerous other companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Arizona Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, BalletMet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Colorado Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, New York City Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theater, Pennsylvania Ballet, PHILADANCO!, Mariinsky Ballet, Minneapolis Dance Theater, Phoenix Dance Company, Sacramento Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, The Washington Ballet, and Zenon Dance Company, The San Francisco Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, among others.

Rhoden has also directed and choreographed performances for shows across a range of media, including So You Think You Can Dance, E! Entertainment’s Tribute to Style, Amici, and Cirque Du Soleil’s Zumanity, and he appeared in the feature film One Last Dance. He has collaborated with, or created work for a number of celebrated artists, including Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Kelly Clarkson, ELEW, David Rozenblatt, Nicholas Payton, The Drifters, Paul Simon, Billy Strayhorn, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, U2, The Turtle Creek Chorus, and Patrick Swayze.

Rhoden is a recipient of various honors and awards including The New York Foundation for the Arts Award, The Choo San Goh Award for Choreography, and The Ailey School’s Apex Award. Rhoden received an honorary doctorate degree from the Boston Conservatory in recognition of his extensive contributions to the field of dance.


DESMOND RICHARDSON (Co-Founder, Co-Artistic Director) was the first African-American principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre, and is hailed by The New York Times as one of the greatest dancers of his time.

Nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the original Broadway cast of Fosse and deemed a standout in the Tony Award winning production After Midnight, Richardson is highly esteemed by the concert dance and Broadway community. Richardson has appeared on celebrated stages across the world, namely The Metropolitan Opera, The Kennedy Center, Paris Opera, The Bolshoi Theatre, The Mariinsky Theatre, The State Kremlin Palace, Teatro Massimo, and Teatro alla Scala. He has been a member and invited guest of prestigious companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Frankfurt Ballet, Royal Swedish Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Washington Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet, to name a few. Richardson, a Young Arts Finalist and Presidential Scholar, has received numerous awards including the Dance Magazine Award, Capezio Award, Ailey Apex Award, L.A. Ovation Award, "Bessie" Award, YoungArts Alumni Award, and most recently the Roosevelt “Rosey” Thompson Award presented by the Presidential Scholars Foundation. In the spring of 2019, Richardson received an honorary doctorate degree from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts in recognition of his extensive contributions to the field of dance.

Richardson has been a celebrity guest performer and choreographer for productions across media such as the American Music Awards, the Academy Awards, City Center’s Encores! series, Italy’s Amici, and international franchises of So You Think You Can Dance. Richardson has been featured by famed artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Elton John, and Aretha Franklin, and he appears in celebrated films such as the Oscar-Award winning Chicago, Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe, and the recent independent film, Fall to Rise. He has worked with fashion icon, Tom Ford, Chic’s Nile Rodgers, and recently contributed to Grammy-Award winning Jill Scott’s video Back Together, which features dancers from COMPLEXIONS. Richardson has also been a featured performer in various operas such as: Julie Taymor’s Grendel as Beowulf and as the Pharaoh in Teatro La Scala’s Moïse et Pharaone opposite Roberto Bolle conducted by famed Maestro Riccardo Muti. Internationally and domestically, he is a master teacher for dance programs such as the New York’s All Stars Project, YoungArts Miami, United Way, NYCDA, and multiple dance conventions. He served as co-creative director and choreographer with David Monn for the Park Avenue Armory Gala Masquerade. Richardson is currently a guest artist-in-residence at USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Richardson can be seen in the current feature film High Strung Free Dance as the character Sammy.


MEG PAUL (Associate Artistic Director, Rehearsal Director, Complexions Academy Director) brings a wealth of significant professional experience in ballet and Broadway performance and teaching artistry. She has worked closely with important dance pioneers and choreographers in the field: from the repertoire and artistic direction of Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey to works by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Dwight Rhoden, and Alonzo King. Her thirty-year career encompasses a wide range of national and international experience in performance, choreography, directing, teaching, program development, community engagement, and arts management. Ms. Paul was a ballerina with the Joffrey Ballet, COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet, and Ron De Jesus Dance. She was dance captain, lead understudy, and full swing for Twyla Tharp’s Tony award-winning Broadway musical Movin’ Out during the Broadway run. Her awards include The Princess Grace Award, winner of The International Dance Competition of the Americas, and the Copperfoot Award. Ms. Paul has curated and directed several dance concerts and benefits including National City Stars of Ballet and Broadway and Detroit Music Hall’s annual 313 Choreography Expo. She was honored as a Detroit Renaissance Hero by the Detroit Free Press for her work on National City Stars of Ballet and Broadway. From 2010-2022, Paul served in many roles at Wayne State University’s Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, including Associate Professor of Teaching, Recruitment Coordinator for Dance, and Director of Dance (2018-2022). Paul curated and directed the Complexions Detroit Summer Intensive at Wayne State University for nine seasons. Paul is honored to begin her newly appointed role as Associate Artistic Director with Complexions Contemporary Ballet. She continues as Academy Director for Complexions Contemporary Ballet Academy, and ballet faculty for Adrenaline, Revive, and National Dance Honors Conventions.


JAE MAN JOO (Resident Choreographer, Ballet Master) was born and raised In Kwang-Ju, Korea, where he trained in classical ballet, modern, and traditional Korean Dances. He graduated from Dankook University in Seoul, Korea. In 1996, he received The Best Individual Artist Award from The Bagnolet International Dance Festival in Paris, France. After moving to New York City, Joo started working with contemporary ballet companies and was principal dancer with Ballet Hispanico and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Mr. Joo worked with Shen Wei, Zvi Gotheiner, Igal Perry, and Jessica Lang. In 2009 he received The Princess Grace Award for Excellence in Choreography.

For the past 21 years, Jae has worked with Complexions Contemporary Ballet in various capacities, including Associate Artistic Director, Ballet Master & Artist in Residence, and currently a Resident Choreographer & Ballet Master. He has created many ballets for the company including “Tears” (Rachmaninoff), “Surface” (Debussy), “Atmosphere”(Bach), ”Flight" (Bach), ”Recur"(Richter, Silverstrov),and “Goodnight” (Arvo Pärt). Joo has been invited to create work for Jacob's Pillow, Ailey II, Ailey School, Marymount Manhattan College, Joffrey Ballet School, Arts Umbrella, PCDC, and Point Park University. Joo recently created a full-length evening vallet "Vita", his second ballet creation for Wise Ballet Theater Korea. "Vita" received the 2022 Korea Dance Art Award. In 2022 Joo was appointed as full-time Ballet Faculty at Point Park University Conservatory of Performing Arts.


MICHAEL KORSCH ( Resident Lighting Designer) is a lighting, projection and scenic designer based in Philadelphia, PA, where he earned his BA in theatre from Temple University. He has worked with numerous directors and choreographers, creating hundreds of visual designs for dance, theatre and other live performances throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as New Zealand. Michael has been the resident lighting designer for Complexions Contemporary Ballet since 1998, and Ballet Arizona since 2001. In addition, Michael has created designs for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Backhausdance, BalletMet, Ballet Nice Méditerranée, Ballet West, BalletX, Carolina Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Cleveland Play House, Czech National Ballet, DanceBrazil, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Disney Creative Entertainment, English National Ballet, FELA! The Concert, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, MOMIX, Oakland Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, and Washington Ballet among others.


CHRISTINE DARCH (Resident Costume Designer) has designed for COMPLEXIONS since 2006. She designs and builds costumes for choreographers Julia Adam, Val Caniparoli, Alison Cook Beatty, Rena Butler, Robert Dekkers, Jorma Elo, Nicolo Fonte, Adam Hougland, Jae Man Joo, James Kudelka, Gabrielle Lamb, Edward Liang, Matthew Neenan, David Parsons, Caili Quan, Amy Seiwert, Merián Soto, Septime Webre, and Yin Yue. Ms. Darch has been commissioned by Alvin Ailey, Astana Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Arizona, Ballet Hawaii, Ballet Memphis, Charlotte Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Gibney Dance, Houston Ballet, Imagery, Israel Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Madco, Marin Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Le Ballet Nice Méditerranée, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Post: ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Washington Ballet, and BalletX. She lives in East Northport, NY with acclaimed classical American ballet composer Matthew Pierce.


DANCER BIOS

ALBERTO ANDRADE (Dancer) Alberto Andrade is From Queens, New york. Trained at sugarloaf ballet, the Colburn school, and the Milwaukee Ballet School. He has trained at a number of summer programs, the School of Pennsylvania ballet, the school of American ballet, the harid conservatory, the Ellison ballet, and the Milwaukee ballet school. He has previously danced with Milwaukee ballet 2 and American contemporary ballet. This is Alberto’s first season with COMPLEXIONS.

CHRISTIAN BURSE (Dancer) was born in Austin, Texas where she began her dance journey at the age of two years old. She completed her early dance training at RISE Dance Company where she received a diverse dance education. She continued her dance training at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, and Dance Industry Performing Arts Center. She attended multiple summer intensives with COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet and The Juilliard School. She has received awards from The National YoungArts Foundation and was named a 2020/2021 Texas Young Master. This is Christian’s second season with COMPLEXIONS.

CARMINA BALLESTEROS (Apprentice) Carmina Ballesteros was born in Chicago, where she trained at the Academy of Dance Arts, Ruth Page Center for Dance, and Visceral Dance Chicago. She obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Biology from Michigan State University, but decided to pursue a career in dance as she trained in intensives held by Complexions Contemporary Ballet Academy, LA Contemporary Dance, and Alonzo King Lines Ballet during her last year in college. Since graduating in May of 2022, she has performed as a soloist with Long Island City Ballet, Swan Kim’s Ballet Center, and City Dance New York, and is now the female apprentice for Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company. This is Carmina’s first season with COMPLEXIONS

JACOPO CALVO (Dancer) was born in Asti, Italy. He began his dance training at the age of eleven at his hometown school, Ritmo Danza. At eighteen, he moved to NYC where he attended The Ailey School on scholarship. He has worked with choreographers such as Marcus Jarrell Willis, Brice Mousset, Ray Mercer, Earl Mosley, Francesca Harper, and artist Nick Cave in The Let Go at the Park Avenue Armory. He has attended summer intensives with American Ballet Theater and COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet, and RESET 2021 with Studio Wayne McGregor. Jacopo has performed with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for their 60th Anniversary Season in Memoria at New York City Center and for the Ailey Spirit Gala. This is Jacopo’s second season with COMPLEXIONS.

KOBE ATWOOD COURTNEY (Dancer) was introduced to dance through Richmond Ballet’s Outreach program Minds in Motion. They trained with Richmond Ballet, under the encouragement of Jasmine Grace. They finished their training at San Francisco Ballet School. There, they were fortunate to perform pieces such as Balanchine’s “Stars and Stripes” and an excerpt from Jiri Kylian’s “Sarabande”.They then spent two years working with Orlando Ballet. They were able to learn from many different works such as “Lyric Pieces” by Jessica Lang and “Lambarena” by Val Caniparoli. They continued their career with Festival Ballet Providence, where they were able to dance leading roles in pieces choreographed by artists like Yury Yanowsky, Ja’ Malik, and Lia Cirio. They also recently started their choreographic career, setting work for Rhode Island Women’s Choreography Project. They look forward to the next chapter of their career, joining Complexions Contemporary Ballet for this season. @kobe.courtney

JASMINE HEART CRUZ (Dancer) Jasmine Heart Cruz was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She received her dance training at Westlake School for the Performing Arts where she focused in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and modern. She also attended programs such as Hubbard Street Dance Intensive, NYCDA Winter Dance Intensive, and English National Ballet School’s fall and summer courses. After graduating high school, she spent one year at the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. In 2020, Jasmine was a Dance Spirit Magazine Cover Model Search Winner. She has received awards from competitions such as ADCIBC, YAGP, NYCDA, and most recently received the bronze medal at Tanzolymp International Dance Festival in Berlin. This is her first season with COMPLEXIONS.

ANGELO DE SERRA (Apprentice) grew up in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. He began his professional training at the age of 14 with Sharon Podesva, his private ABT ballet teacher. He attended summer intensives with The Royal Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, Academie Princesse Grace. At the age of 17 he was awarded Senior Man Classical Top Six of Youth America Grand Prix Italy and at the age of 18 he won the Expression International Dance Competition in Florence (first place Classical Soloist) and he received a scholarship to the Alvin Ailey School. He then moved to Cannes, France, graduated from PNSD-Rosella Hightower and joined Cannes Jeune Ballet. He then moved to New York City to attend The Ailey School under full scholarship and attended Complexions Academy intensive programs. This is Angelo’s first season with Complexions.

VINCENZO DI PRIMO (Dancer) grew up in Adrano, Sicily, Italy and graduated from the Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy. Vincenzo performed with some of the world’s most reputable dance companies including The Royal Ballet of London and received several awards including Outstanding Artistry Prize and Contemporary Prize from the Prix de Lausanne, Grand Prix de Paris, Youth America Grand Prix New York, and the Beijing International Ballet Competition. In 2019, he was a contestant and finalist on the Italian TV show Amici. In 2021, Vincenzo was included inDance Magazine’s “25 to Watch." This is Vincenzo’s 4th season with COMPLEXIONS.

JILLIAN DAVIS (Dancer) from Kutztown, PA and began her ballet training at the age of three. She studied with Risa Kaplowitz and Susan Jaffe at Princeton Dance and Theater Studio in Princeton, NJ. Jillian attended San Francisco Ballet, School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and LINES Ballet programs. Jillian has been a company member with COMPLEXIONS since 2014. She has been part of Dwight Rhoden world premieres including Stardust, Bach 25, Woke, Love Rocks, and a world-premiere solo, Elegy, Snatched Back from the Edges, and Endgame. She has also performed installation works by Desmond Richardson. Jillian was honored to perform an excerpt of Approximate Sonata and Slingerland Pas de Deux by William Forsthye. Along with being a dancer with COMPLEXIONS, Jillian is part of the core faculty for Complexions Dance Academy. Jillian joined COMPLEXIONS in 2014. IG: @Jillange93

THOMAS DILLEY (Dancer) began training at age twelve at Premiere Studios in Sydney, Australia. He was a Top 7 Junior Men's Finalist at Youth America Grand Prix and a prize winner at the Prix de Lausanne, receiving admission to Summer Intensives with Academie Princess Grace, American Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, The Royal Ballet School, and The Australian Ballet School. Thomas danced for Queensland Ballet's Professional Year Program where he performed works including Strictly Gershwin, Flames of Paris, Scotch on the Rocks, and Muscle Memory. In 2017, he joined the Atlanta Ballet 2 where he performed works such as Beauty and the Beast and Eclipse.

Thomas joined CCB to perform the world premiere of Woke. This is Thomas’ 4th season with COMPLEXIONS. IG: @thomas_dd

JOE GONZÁLEZ (Dancer) is from Boston Massachusetts, where he trained at Roxbury Center Performing Arts and the Boston Arts Academy. Joe has participated in Boston Conservatory's summer intensive, American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival and twice at Springboard Danse Montreal. He received his BFA from Boston Conservatory and premiered works in their choreography showcases and commissioned works for Bryn Mawr College, Rowan University and Boston Conservatory at Berklee WinterWorks. Joe toured nationally and internationally as performing artist with Philadanco, Anna Myer & Dancers, Prometheus Dance, #DBdanceProject and was Director of Philadanco's 3rd Company (D/3), the 2020/21 DanceVisions Artist in Resident at Performance Garage. He is currently founder and Artistic Director of Jo-Mé Dance and is on faculty at Temple University, Georgian Court University and Boston Arts Academy. This is Joe’s first season with Complexions. IG @j.gonzalez.dance

HARRISON KNOSTMAN (Dancer) a Colorado native, is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School and is an aspiring professional dancer and educator. He began training at Studio West Dance Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. This school allowed him to perform works by Crystal Pite, Barak Marshall, and Ida Saki--among many other accomplished choreographers. Also, Harrison is proud to say he was a YoungArts finalist in modern dance and is a college scholarship recipient from the NYCDA Foundation. Harrison is now thrilled to begin his professional dance career with COMPLEXIONS. After making his professional debut with COMPLEXIONS this past summer in Israel, he is grateful to continue working and growing with the company throughout its 28th season. In the future, Harrison hopes to pursue his passion for dance with professional companies worldwide and continue to educate young minds in this beautiful art form he loves dearly.

ELIJAH MACK (Apprentice) is from San Diego, CA. His love and passion for dance began at a very early age. He began training as a Hip-Hop Dancer with Studio FX in San Diego at the age of 9. He studied dance at Creative Performing and Media Arts Middle School and San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts High School where he trained in Jazz, Modern, Tap, Contemporary and Ballet. He began his formal ballet training at the age of 14 with Golden State Ballet Academy’s Pre-Professional Program before attending San Francisco Ballet School. He has attended various dance intensives, competitions, and dance festivals across the country and enjoys traveling the world participating in dance workshops. He was invited to participate in Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s inaugural Trainee Program in 2022 and is thrilled to be living out his dream in New York City as an apprentice with Complexions.

MARYANN MASSA (Dancer) was born and raised in Old Bridge, New Jersey, which is where she began her training at Dance Stop Dance Educational Center. Mary Ann graduated from The Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College in 2019 with a BFA in dance and a concentration in Ballet. During her time at Purchase, she had the opportunity to perform works by George Balanchine, Norbert De La Cruz lll, Gregory Dawson, Michelle Thompson Ulerich, and Stuart Loungway. Additionally, she got to perform a duet at the Kuan Du Arts Festival in Taiwan in 2017 choreographed by Norbert De La Cruz lll. She attended workshops and programs at Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet X, San Francisco Conservatory Forsythe Program,The Rock School, and more. Before joining Complexions, she was a dancer with New Jersey Ballet for 3 years under Maria Kowroski. This is her first season with Complexions Contemporary Ballet.

MARISSA MATTINGLY (Dancer) grew up in Tampa, Florida where she was trained in several different styles of dance since the age of three. She started to take ballet and contemporary more seriously at the age of 13 when she began training at All American Dance Factory and Classical Ballet School under the direction of Terri Howell and Julio Montano. With this training she took part in many ballet competitions. She is a 4 time YAGP finalist, and performed in the UBC 2022 finals gala as a Legacy Award winner. She has been offered acceptances and scholarships to programs at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Chicago, BalletMet, Colorado Ballet Academy, Kansas City Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Texas Ballet Theatre, Philadelphia Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, and Houston Ballet Academy. She attended her first Complexions summer intensive in 2021, and was invited to take part in their two week Trainee Program in the spring of 2022. This is her first season with the company.

TATIANA MELENDEZ (Dancer) grew up in Tampa, FL. She studied at All American Dance Factory & Classical Ballet under Julio Montano and Terri Howell. At 15, she joined Houston Ballet Academy's Professional Division on scholarship. Tatiana performed with Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch's Cinderella and The Nutcracker, and with Texas Ballet Theater as Clara in Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker and Matinü Pieces. She was a part of the world premiere of Dwight Rhoden's WOKE, Love Rocks & SBFTE. Tatiana has guested around the world including dancing the Snow and Sugar Plum pas for Roma City Ballet Company. Tatiana appeared on the cover of Pointe's magazine 2020 Fall edition and danced for the 2021 Kennedy Center Honors. This is Tatiana's 4th season with Complexions.

MIGUEL SOLANO (Dancer) is from Medellin, Colombia. He started dancing at age seventeen at the District University of Bogotá and continued his training at BalletStudio Bogotá under the direction of Patricia Niño. In 2013, he moved to NYC to complete his studies at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet on full scholarship, performing with Kirkland’s studio company. He has participated in summer programs including Hubbard Street Dance, Oklahoma City Ballet, and Batsheva Dance Company in Israel. Miguel has worked with Awaken Dance Theater, Thomas/Ortiz Dance, RudduR Dance and Connecticut Ballet. He has worked with choreographers Earl Mosley, Christopher Rudd, Francesca Harper, Darrell Moultrie, Larry Keigwin, Nadege Hottier, Larissa Calero, Eve Chan, and Ted Thomas. This is Miguel’s fourth season with COMPLEXIONS. IG @miguellsolano

LUCY STEWART (Dancer) grew up right outside of Denver, Colorado, dancing at a small studio and at Colorado Ballet. She spent her summers training with American Ballet Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet, COMPLEXIONS, and Colorado Ballet. Lucy has studied the last two years at The Juilliard School in the dance division. She has had the opportunity to study with various leading artists in the dance world, including Ohad Naharin, Francesca Harper, Tiler Peck, Rena Butler, and James Whiteside, as well as the opportunity to perform Set and Reset by Trisha Brown. For the last several years, Lucy has studied regularly with John Gardner and Amanda McKerrow from ABT. This is Lucy’s first season with Complexions.

CANDY TONG (Dancer) was born in San Francisco, California. She trained at San Francisco Ballet School under full scholarship and is a BFA graduate in Dance Performance from University of California, Irvine -- completing the program in just 2.5 years. Candy received a diploma in Dance from the English National Ballet School, where she performed and toured with the company. Alongside her dance career, Candy is a signed model with Stetts Model Management and has been in several global campaigns such as Reebok. Her work has been showcased at the Galleries Lafayette in Paris, the Huffington Post, and on Nikon Europe's ad campaigns. As an entrepreneur, Candy is a fashion designer specifically for dancewear. This is Candy’s fourth season with Complexions. .

APRIL WATSON (Dancer) began her dance training at age eight at University of North Carolina School of the Arts Preparatory Program. In 2016, April graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts High School Program. She spent her summers with School of American Ballet, Houston Ballet, Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Charlotte Ballet, Indiana Ballet Conservatory, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Joffrey of Chicago all on scholarship. After graduating from UNCSA, she spent two years in Los Angeles, CA studying under the direction of Debbie Allen as an Artist in Residence on scholarship. April joined the COMPLEXIONS in 2019 as an apprentice. This is her second season with COMPLEXIONS as a full company member. IG @wca

Image for Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Tonight's performance

February 4, 2023

 

FOUNDING CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
Dwight Rhoden & Desmond Richardson

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Meg Paul

PRINCIPAL CHOREOGRAPHER
Dwight Rhoden

INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Muadi B. Dibinga

ARTISTIC ADVISORS
Carmen de Lavallade & Sarita Allen

 

REHEARSAL DIRECTORS
Meg Paul, Jae Man Joo

RESIDENT LIGHTING DESIGNER
Michael Korsch

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION & LIGHTING SUPERVISOR
Joseph Walls

COMPANY MANAGER
Monica Montaño

RESIDENT COSTUME DESIGNER
Christine Darch

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
Jacob Wexler

ASSOCIATE COMPANY MANAGER
Taylor Craft

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Natiya Kezevadze, Terk Lewis, Kelly Marsh IV, Timothy Stickney

 

THE COMPANY

Alberto Andrade, Christian Burse, Jacopo Calvo, Kobe Atwood Courtney, Jasmine Heart Cruz, Jillian Davis, Vincenzo Di Primo, Thomas Dilley, Joe González, Harrison Knostman, Mary Ann Massa, Marissa Mattingly, Tatiana Melendez, Miguel Solano, Lucy Stewart, Candy Tong (leave of absence), April Watson

Apprentices: Angelo De Serra, Elijah Mack, Carmina Ballesteros


WOKE

2019
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden
Music: Various Artists
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Sound Design: Corey Folta
Performed By: The Company

MUSIC CREDITS
“Ball of Confusion” (That's What the World is Today), Written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing | “Killing Spree“, Written by Daniel T. Alston, Robert Bryson Hall II, Arjun Ivatury, and Thomas Vontae, Published by Empire Music Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music | “Pray”, Written by Larrance Dopson, Timothy Mosley, James Napier, Darryl Pearson, Sam Smith, and Jose Valasquez, Published by Anthem Entertainment, Downtown Music Publishing, Peermusic, Sony/ATV Music Publishing | “Rank & File”, Written by Ludwig Goransson and Moses Sumney, Published by Ludovin Music, Kobalt Music Group, Warner/Chappell Music | “Doomed”, Written by Matthew Kolaitis and Moses Sumney, Published by Domino Publishing, Kobalt Music Group | “Mona Lisa”, Written by Angel Aponte, Dwayne Carter, Kendrick Duckworth, Diaz Marco Antonio Rodriguez, Published by Concord Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music | “I’ll Take Care of You”, Written by Brook Benton , Published by Third Side Music | “Peace Piece”, Written by Bill Evans, Published by Tro Essex Music Group

PROGRAM NOTE
A physical reaction to the daily news.

WOKE was generously commissioned in part by Detroit's Music Hall.
Special thanks to Meg Paul and Vince Paul.

 

– INTERMISSION –

 

LOVE ROCKS

2020
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden
Music: Lenny Kravitz
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Sound Design: Corey Folta
Performed by: The Company

MUSIC CREDITS

“We Can Get It All Together", "I Belong to You", "Take Time", “Fly Away”, "Calling All Angels", "Riding On the Wings of My Lord", “It’s Enough”, “Here to Love”

All written by Leonard A. Kravitz with permission of BMG Gold Songs. “Are You Gonna Go My Way”

Written by Leonard A. Kravitz and Craig David Ross with permission of BMG Gold Songs and Wigged Music Rights/Clearances: BZ/Rights & Permissions, Inc.

PROGRAM NOTE
"We've got to dance and be in love." - Lenny Kravitz

Special thanks to Lenny Kravitz.


 

COMPLEXIONS CONTEMPORARY BALLET

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
Complexions Academy Director: Meg Paul
Company & Academy Manager: Monica Montaño
Associate Company Manager and Media Creative Coordinator: Taylor Craft
Production Associate: Jillian Davis
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

About the Company

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 28 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.

Who's Who in the Company

DWIGHT RHODEN (Co-Founder, Co-Artistic Director, Principal Choreographer) has established a remarkably wide-ranging career, earning distinction from The New York Times as “one of the most sought out choreographers of the day.” A native of Dayton, Ohio, Rhoden began dancing at age seventeen. Rhoden has performed with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz De Montreal, and as a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 1994, Rhoden and Desmond Richardson founded COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet. They have brought their unique brand of contemporary dance to the world for over two decades.

Under Rhoden’s direction, COMPLEXIONS has become a dance institution high in demand, as a center for innovation and cutting-edge programming. Rhoden’s choreography has been the lynchpin of the development of COMPLEXIONS repertory. “Musicality, innovation, purpose, consistency, a brilliant use of stage space and the ability to tell a story—all these qualities make [Rhoden] one of today's elect choreographers” (Los Angeles Times). Since 1994, Rhoden has created over 80 ballets for COMPLEXIONS, as well as for numerous other companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Arizona Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, BalletMet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Colorado Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, New York City Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theater, Pennsylvania Ballet, PHILADANCO!, Mariinsky Ballet, Minneapolis Dance Theater, Phoenix Dance Company, Sacramento Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, The Washington Ballet, and Zenon Dance Company, The San Francisco Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, among others.

Rhoden has also directed and choreographed performances for shows across a range of media, including So You Think You Can Dance, E! Entertainment’s Tribute to Style, Amici, and Cirque Du Soleil’s Zumanity, and he appeared in the feature film One Last Dance. He has collaborated with, or created work for a number of celebrated artists, including Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Kelly Clarkson, ELEW, David Rozenblatt, Nicholas Payton, The Drifters, Paul Simon, Billy Strayhorn, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, U2, The Turtle Creek Chorus, and Patrick Swayze.

Rhoden is a recipient of various honors and awards including The New York Foundation for the Arts Award, The Choo San Goh Award for Choreography, and The Ailey School’s Apex Award. Rhoden received an honorary doctorate degree from the Boston Conservatory in recognition of his extensive contributions to the field of dance.


DESMOND RICHARDSON (Co-Founder, Co-Artistic Director) was the first African-American principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre, and is hailed by The New York Times as one of the greatest dancers of his time.

Nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the original Broadway cast of Fosse and deemed a standout in the Tony Award winning production After Midnight, Richardson is highly esteemed by the concert dance and Broadway community. Richardson has appeared on celebrated stages across the world, namely The Metropolitan Opera, The Kennedy Center, Paris Opera, The Bolshoi Theatre, The Mariinsky Theatre, The State Kremlin Palace, Teatro Massimo, and Teatro alla Scala. He has been a member and invited guest of prestigious companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Frankfurt Ballet, Royal Swedish Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Washington Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet, to name a few. Richardson, a Young Arts Finalist and Presidential Scholar, has received numerous awards including the Dance Magazine Award, Capezio Award, Ailey Apex Award, L.A. Ovation Award, "Bessie" Award, YoungArts Alumni Award, and most recently the Roosevelt “Rosey” Thompson Award presented by the Presidential Scholars Foundation. In the spring of 2019, Richardson received an honorary doctorate degree from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts in recognition of his extensive contributions to the field of dance.

Richardson has been a celebrity guest performer and choreographer for productions across media such as the American Music Awards, the Academy Awards, City Center’s Encores! series, Italy’s Amici, and international franchises of So You Think You Can Dance. Richardson has been featured by famed artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Elton John, and Aretha Franklin, and he appears in celebrated films such as the Oscar-Award winning Chicago, Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe, and the recent independent film, Fall to Rise. He has worked with fashion icon, Tom Ford, Chic’s Nile Rodgers, and recently contributed to Grammy-Award winning Jill Scott’s video Back Together, which features dancers from COMPLEXIONS. Richardson has also been a featured performer in various operas such as: Julie Taymor’s Grendel as Beowulf and as the Pharaoh in Teatro La Scala’s Moïse et Pharaone opposite Roberto Bolle conducted by famed Maestro Riccardo Muti. Internationally and domestically, he is a master teacher for dance programs such as the New York’s All Stars Project, YoungArts Miami, United Way, NYCDA, and multiple dance conventions. He served as co-creative director and choreographer with David Monn for the Park Avenue Armory Gala Masquerade. Richardson is currently a guest artist-in-residence at USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Richardson can be seen in the current feature film High Strung Free Dance as the character Sammy.


MEG PAUL (Associate Artistic Director, Rehearsal Director, Complexions Academy Director) brings a wealth of significant professional experience in ballet and Broadway performance and teaching artistry. She has worked closely with important dance pioneers and choreographers in the field: from the repertoire and artistic direction of Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey to works by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Dwight Rhoden, and Alonzo King. Her thirty-year career encompasses a wide range of national and international experience in performance, choreography, directing, teaching, program development, community engagement, and arts management. Ms. Paul was a ballerina with the Joffrey Ballet, COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet, and Ron De Jesus Dance. She was dance captain, lead understudy, and full swing for Twyla Tharp’s Tony award-winning Broadway musical Movin’ Out during the Broadway run. Her awards include The Princess Grace Award, winner of The International Dance Competition of the Americas, and the Copperfoot Award. Ms. Paul has curated and directed several dance concerts and benefits including National City Stars of Ballet and Broadway and Detroit Music Hall’s annual 313 Choreography Expo. She was honored as a Detroit Renaissance Hero by the Detroit Free Press for her work on National City Stars of Ballet and Broadway. From 2010-2022, Paul served in many roles at Wayne State University’s Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, including Associate Professor of Teaching, Recruitment Coordinator for Dance, and Director of Dance (2018-2022). Paul curated and directed the Complexions Detroit Summer Intensive at Wayne State University for nine seasons. Paul is honored to begin her newly appointed role as Associate Artistic Director with Complexions Contemporary Ballet. She continues as Academy Director for Complexions Contemporary Ballet Academy, and ballet faculty for Adrenaline, Revive, and National Dance Honors Conventions.


JAE MAN JOO (Resident Choreographer, Ballet Master) was born and raised In Kwang-Ju, Korea, where he trained in classical ballet, modern, and traditional Korean Dances. He graduated from Dankook University in Seoul, Korea. In 1996, he received The Best Individual Artist Award from The Bagnolet International Dance Festival in Paris, France. After moving to New York City, Joo started working with contemporary ballet companies and was principal dancer with Ballet Hispanico and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Mr. Joo worked with Shen Wei, Zvi Gotheiner, Igal Perry, and Jessica Lang. In 2009 he received The Princess Grace Award for Excellence in Choreography.

For the past 21 years, Jae has worked with Complexions Contemporary Ballet in various capacities, including Associate Artistic Director, Ballet Master & Artist in Residence, and currently a Resident Choreographer & Ballet Master. He has created many ballets for the company including “Tears” (Rachmaninoff), “Surface” (Debussy), “Atmosphere”(Bach), ”Flight" (Bach), ”Recur"(Richter, Silverstrov),and “Goodnight” (Arvo Pärt). Joo has been invited to create work for Jacob's Pillow, Ailey II, Ailey School, Marymount Manhattan College, Joffrey Ballet School, Arts Umbrella, PCDC, and Point Park University. Joo recently created a full-length evening vallet "Vita", his second ballet creation for Wise Ballet Theater Korea. "Vita" received the 2022 Korea Dance Art Award. In 2022 Joo was appointed as full-time Ballet Faculty at Point Park University Conservatory of Performing Arts.


MICHAEL KORSCH ( Resident Lighting Designer) is a lighting, projection and scenic designer based in Philadelphia, PA, where he earned his BA in theatre from Temple University. He has worked with numerous directors and choreographers, creating hundreds of visual designs for dance, theatre and other live performances throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as New Zealand. Michael has been the resident lighting designer for Complexions Contemporary Ballet since 1998, and Ballet Arizona since 2001. In addition, Michael has created designs for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Backhausdance, BalletMet, Ballet Nice Méditerranée, Ballet West, BalletX, Carolina Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Cleveland Play House, Czech National Ballet, DanceBrazil, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Disney Creative Entertainment, English National Ballet, FELA! The Concert, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, MOMIX, Oakland Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, and Washington Ballet among others.


CHRISTINE DARCH (Resident Costume Designer) has designed for COMPLEXIONS since 2006. She designs and builds costumes for choreographers Julia Adam, Val Caniparoli, Alison Cook Beatty, Rena Butler, Robert Dekkers, Jorma Elo, Nicolo Fonte, Adam Hougland, Jae Man Joo, James Kudelka, Gabrielle Lamb, Edward Liang, Matthew Neenan, David Parsons, Caili Quan, Amy Seiwert, Merián Soto, Septime Webre, and Yin Yue. Ms. Darch has been commissioned by Alvin Ailey, Astana Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Arizona, Ballet Hawaii, Ballet Memphis, Charlotte Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Gibney Dance, Houston Ballet, Imagery, Israel Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Madco, Marin Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Le Ballet Nice Méditerranée, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Post: ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Washington Ballet, and BalletX. She lives in East Northport, NY with acclaimed classical American ballet composer Matthew Pierce.


DANCER BIOS

ALBERTO ANDRADE (Dancer) Alberto Andrade is From Queens, New york. Trained at sugarloaf ballet, the Colburn school, and the Milwaukee Ballet School. He has trained at a number of summer programs, the School of Pennsylvania ballet, the school of American ballet, the harid conservatory, the Ellison ballet, and the Milwaukee ballet school. He has previously danced with Milwaukee ballet 2 and American contemporary ballet. This is Alberto’s first season with COMPLEXIONS.

CHRISTIAN BURSE (Dancer) was born in Austin, Texas where she began her dance journey at the age of two years old. She completed her early dance training at RISE Dance Company where she received a diverse dance education. She continued her dance training at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, and Dance Industry Performing Arts Center. She attended multiple summer intensives with COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet and The Juilliard School. She has received awards from The National YoungArts Foundation and was named a 2020/2021 Texas Young Master. This is Christian’s second season with COMPLEXIONS.

CARMINA BALLESTEROS (Apprentice) Carmina Ballesteros was born in Chicago, where she trained at the Academy of Dance Arts, Ruth Page Center for Dance, and Visceral Dance Chicago. She obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Biology from Michigan State University, but decided to pursue a career in dance as she trained in intensives held by Complexions Contemporary Ballet Academy, LA Contemporary Dance, and Alonzo King Lines Ballet during her last year in college. Since graduating in May of 2022, she has performed as a soloist with Long Island City Ballet, Swan Kim’s Ballet Center, and City Dance New York, and is now the female apprentice for Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company. This is Carmina’s first season with COMPLEXIONS

JACOPO CALVO (Dancer) was born in Asti, Italy. He began his dance training at the age of eleven at his hometown school, Ritmo Danza. At eighteen, he moved to NYC where he attended The Ailey School on scholarship. He has worked with choreographers such as Marcus Jarrell Willis, Brice Mousset, Ray Mercer, Earl Mosley, Francesca Harper, and artist Nick Cave in The Let Go at the Park Avenue Armory. He has attended summer intensives with American Ballet Theater and COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet, and RESET 2021 with Studio Wayne McGregor. Jacopo has performed with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for their 60th Anniversary Season in Memoria at New York City Center and for the Ailey Spirit Gala. This is Jacopo’s second season with COMPLEXIONS.

KOBE ATWOOD COURTNEY (Dancer) was introduced to dance through Richmond Ballet’s Outreach program Minds in Motion. They trained with Richmond Ballet, under the encouragement of Jasmine Grace. They finished their training at San Francisco Ballet School. There, they were fortunate to perform pieces such as Balanchine’s “Stars and Stripes” and an excerpt from Jiri Kylian’s “Sarabande”.They then spent two years working with Orlando Ballet. They were able to learn from many different works such as “Lyric Pieces” by Jessica Lang and “Lambarena” by Val Caniparoli. They continued their career with Festival Ballet Providence, where they were able to dance leading roles in pieces choreographed by artists like Yury Yanowsky, Ja’ Malik, and Lia Cirio. They also recently started their choreographic career, setting work for Rhode Island Women’s Choreography Project. They look forward to the next chapter of their career, joining Complexions Contemporary Ballet for this season. @kobe.courtney

JASMINE HEART CRUZ (Dancer) Jasmine Heart Cruz was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She received her dance training at Westlake School for the Performing Arts where she focused in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and modern. She also attended programs such as Hubbard Street Dance Intensive, NYCDA Winter Dance Intensive, and English National Ballet School’s fall and summer courses. After graduating high school, she spent one year at the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. In 2020, Jasmine was a Dance Spirit Magazine Cover Model Search Winner. She has received awards from competitions such as ADCIBC, YAGP, NYCDA, and most recently received the bronze medal at Tanzolymp International Dance Festival in Berlin. This is her first season with COMPLEXIONS.

ANGELO DE SERRA (Apprentice) grew up in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. He began his professional training at the age of 14 with Sharon Podesva, his private ABT ballet teacher. He attended summer intensives with The Royal Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, Academie Princesse Grace. At the age of 17 he was awarded Senior Man Classical Top Six of Youth America Grand Prix Italy and at the age of 18 he won the Expression International Dance Competition in Florence (first place Classical Soloist) and he received a scholarship to the Alvin Ailey School. He then moved to Cannes, France, graduated from PNSD-Rosella Hightower and joined Cannes Jeune Ballet. He then moved to New York City to attend The Ailey School under full scholarship and attended Complexions Academy intensive programs. This is Angelo’s first season with Complexions.

VINCENZO DI PRIMO (Dancer) grew up in Adrano, Sicily, Italy and graduated from the Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy. Vincenzo performed with some of the world’s most reputable dance companies including The Royal Ballet of London and received several awards including Outstanding Artistry Prize and Contemporary Prize from the Prix de Lausanne, Grand Prix de Paris, Youth America Grand Prix New York, and the Beijing International Ballet Competition. In 2019, he was a contestant and finalist on the Italian TV show Amici. In 2021, Vincenzo was included inDance Magazine’s “25 to Watch." This is Vincenzo’s 4th season with COMPLEXIONS.

JILLIAN DAVIS (Dancer) from Kutztown, PA and began her ballet training at the age of three. She studied with Risa Kaplowitz and Susan Jaffe at Princeton Dance and Theater Studio in Princeton, NJ. Jillian attended San Francisco Ballet, School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and LINES Ballet programs. Jillian has been a company member with COMPLEXIONS since 2014. She has been part of Dwight Rhoden world premieres including Stardust, Bach 25, Woke, Love Rocks, and a world-premiere solo, Elegy, Snatched Back from the Edges, and Endgame. She has also performed installation works by Desmond Richardson. Jillian was honored to perform an excerpt of Approximate Sonata and Slingerland Pas de Deux by William Forsthye. Along with being a dancer with COMPLEXIONS, Jillian is part of the core faculty for Complexions Dance Academy. Jillian joined COMPLEXIONS in 2014. IG: @Jillange93

THOMAS DILLEY (Dancer) began training at age twelve at Premiere Studios in Sydney, Australia. He was a Top 7 Junior Men's Finalist at Youth America Grand Prix and a prize winner at the Prix de Lausanne, receiving admission to Summer Intensives with Academie Princess Grace, American Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, The Royal Ballet School, and The Australian Ballet School. Thomas danced for Queensland Ballet's Professional Year Program where he performed works including Strictly Gershwin, Flames of Paris, Scotch on the Rocks, and Muscle Memory. In 2017, he joined the Atlanta Ballet 2 where he performed works such as Beauty and the Beast and Eclipse.

Thomas joined CCB to perform the world premiere of Woke. This is Thomas’ 4th season with COMPLEXIONS. IG: @thomas_dd

JOE GONZÁLEZ (Dancer) is from Boston Massachusetts, where he trained at Roxbury Center Performing Arts and the Boston Arts Academy. Joe has participated in Boston Conservatory's summer intensive, American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival and twice at Springboard Danse Montreal. He received his BFA from Boston Conservatory and premiered works in their choreography showcases and commissioned works for Bryn Mawr College, Rowan University and Boston Conservatory at Berklee WinterWorks. Joe toured nationally and internationally as performing artist with Philadanco, Anna Myer & Dancers, Prometheus Dance, #DBdanceProject and was Director of Philadanco's 3rd Company (D/3), the 2020/21 DanceVisions Artist in Resident at Performance Garage. He is currently founder and Artistic Director of Jo-Mé Dance and is on faculty at Temple University, Georgian Court University and Boston Arts Academy. This is Joe’s first season with Complexions. IG @j.gonzalez.dance

HARRISON KNOSTMAN (Dancer) a Colorado native, is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School and is an aspiring professional dancer and educator. He began training at Studio West Dance Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. This school allowed him to perform works by Crystal Pite, Barak Marshall, and Ida Saki--among many other accomplished choreographers. Also, Harrison is proud to say he was a YoungArts finalist in modern dance and is a college scholarship recipient from the NYCDA Foundation. Harrison is now thrilled to begin his professional dance career with COMPLEXIONS. After making his professional debut with COMPLEXIONS this past summer in Israel, he is grateful to continue working and growing with the company throughout its 28th season. In the future, Harrison hopes to pursue his passion for dance with professional companies worldwide and continue to educate young minds in this beautiful art form he loves dearly.

ELIJAH MACK (Apprentice) is from San Diego, CA. His love and passion for dance began at a very early age. He began training as a Hip-Hop Dancer with Studio FX in San Diego at the age of 9. He studied dance at Creative Performing and Media Arts Middle School and San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts High School where he trained in Jazz, Modern, Tap, Contemporary and Ballet. He began his formal ballet training at the age of 14 with Golden State Ballet Academy’s Pre-Professional Program before attending San Francisco Ballet School. He has attended various dance intensives, competitions, and dance festivals across the country and enjoys traveling the world participating in dance workshops. He was invited to participate in Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s inaugural Trainee Program in 2022 and is thrilled to be living out his dream in New York City as an apprentice with Complexions.

MARYANN MASSA (Dancer) was born and raised in Old Bridge, New Jersey, which is where she began her training at Dance Stop Dance Educational Center. Mary Ann graduated from The Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College in 2019 with a BFA in dance and a concentration in Ballet. During her time at Purchase, she had the opportunity to perform works by George Balanchine, Norbert De La Cruz lll, Gregory Dawson, Michelle Thompson Ulerich, and Stuart Loungway. Additionally, she got to perform a duet at the Kuan Du Arts Festival in Taiwan in 2017 choreographed by Norbert De La Cruz lll. She attended workshops and programs at Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet X, San Francisco Conservatory Forsythe Program,The Rock School, and more. Before joining Complexions, she was a dancer with New Jersey Ballet for 3 years under Maria Kowroski. This is her first season with Complexions Contemporary Ballet.

MARISSA MATTINGLY (Dancer) grew up in Tampa, Florida where she was trained in several different styles of dance since the age of three. She started to take ballet and contemporary more seriously at the age of 13 when she began training at All American Dance Factory and Classical Ballet School under the direction of Terri Howell and Julio Montano. With this training she took part in many ballet competitions. She is a 4 time YAGP finalist, and performed in the UBC 2022 finals gala as a Legacy Award winner. She has been offered acceptances and scholarships to programs at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Chicago, BalletMet, Colorado Ballet Academy, Kansas City Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Texas Ballet Theatre, Philadelphia Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, and Houston Ballet Academy. She attended her first Complexions summer intensive in 2021, and was invited to take part in their two week Trainee Program in the spring of 2022. This is her first season with the company.

TATIANA MELENDEZ (Dancer) grew up in Tampa, FL. She studied at All American Dance Factory & Classical Ballet under Julio Montano and Terri Howell. At 15, she joined Houston Ballet Academy's Professional Division on scholarship. Tatiana performed with Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch's Cinderella and The Nutcracker, and with Texas Ballet Theater as Clara in Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker and Matinü Pieces. She was a part of the world premiere of Dwight Rhoden's WOKE, Love Rocks & SBFTE. Tatiana has guested around the world including dancing the Snow and Sugar Plum pas for Roma City Ballet Company. Tatiana appeared on the cover of Pointe's magazine 2020 Fall edition and danced for the 2021 Kennedy Center Honors. This is Tatiana's 4th season with Complexions.

MIGUEL SOLANO (Dancer) is from Medellin, Colombia. He started dancing at age seventeen at the District University of Bogotá and continued his training at BalletStudio Bogotá under the direction of Patricia Niño. In 2013, he moved to NYC to complete his studies at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet on full scholarship, performing with Kirkland’s studio company. He has participated in summer programs including Hubbard Street Dance, Oklahoma City Ballet, and Batsheva Dance Company in Israel. Miguel has worked with Awaken Dance Theater, Thomas/Ortiz Dance, RudduR Dance and Connecticut Ballet. He has worked with choreographers Earl Mosley, Christopher Rudd, Francesca Harper, Darrell Moultrie, Larry Keigwin, Nadege Hottier, Larissa Calero, Eve Chan, and Ted Thomas. This is Miguel’s fourth season with COMPLEXIONS. IG @miguellsolano

LUCY STEWART (Dancer) grew up right outside of Denver, Colorado, dancing at a small studio and at Colorado Ballet. She spent her summers training with American Ballet Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet, COMPLEXIONS, and Colorado Ballet. Lucy has studied the last two years at The Juilliard School in the dance division. She has had the opportunity to study with various leading artists in the dance world, including Ohad Naharin, Francesca Harper, Tiler Peck, Rena Butler, and James Whiteside, as well as the opportunity to perform Set and Reset by Trisha Brown. For the last several years, Lucy has studied regularly with John Gardner and Amanda McKerrow from ABT. This is Lucy’s first season with Complexions.

CANDY TONG (Dancer) was born in San Francisco, California. She trained at San Francisco Ballet School under full scholarship and is a BFA graduate in Dance Performance from University of California, Irvine -- completing the program in just 2.5 years. Candy received a diploma in Dance from the English National Ballet School, where she performed and toured with the company. Alongside her dance career, Candy is a signed model with Stetts Model Management and has been in several global campaigns such as Reebok. Her work has been showcased at the Galleries Lafayette in Paris, the Huffington Post, and on Nikon Europe's ad campaigns. As an entrepreneur, Candy is a fashion designer specifically for dancewear. This is Candy’s fourth season with Complexions. .

APRIL WATSON (Dancer) began her dance training at age eight at University of North Carolina School of the Arts Preparatory Program. In 2016, April graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts High School Program. She spent her summers with School of American Ballet, Houston Ballet, Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Charlotte Ballet, Indiana Ballet Conservatory, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Joffrey of Chicago all on scholarship. After graduating from UNCSA, she spent two years in Los Angeles, CA studying under the direction of Debbie Allen as an Artist in Residence on scholarship. April joined the COMPLEXIONS in 2019 as an apprentice. This is her second season with COMPLEXIONS as a full company member. IG @wca