Search results for: Desmond Richardson

Many companies—ballet, modern, or jazz—show diversity by adding one or two dancers of a different ethnicity than the dominant one of the group. However, a growing number of artistic directors are going beyond tokenism to a point where racial diversity is absolutely essential to their mission. They have carefully assembled a racially and culturally diverse […]

Martha Graham Dance Company Skirball Center, NYU, NYC April 18, 2006 Reviewed by Wendy Perron   Eighty years from the day of its first concert, the Martha Graham Dance Company celebrated its 80th anniversary with a gala of many choreographic jewels. Considering the Protas legal trials and the post-Protas artistic trials (what with the ousting […]

Mathilde Froustey in Victor Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique Photo courtesy Mathilde Froustey Stars of the 21st Century New York State Theater, NYC February 13, 2006 Reviewed by Wendy Perron   Why doesn’t the Paris Opéra Ballet ever come to New York? It’s a question I didn’t think about before I laid eyes Mathilde Froustey at […]

Complexions Dance Company Joyce Theater, New York, NY May 8, 2005 Reviewed by Joseph Carman   Complexions, under the guidance of artistic directors and founders Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, has a sizable following, due in part to the company’s rich collection of dancers—short, tall, black, red-headed, straight, gay, fiery, and languid. This season alone […]

Complexions puts in rehearsal time. Photo by Rose Eichenbaum Complexions Ahmanson Theatre Los Angeles, California November 1?4, 2001 Reviewed by Sara Wolf Dance in Southern California received a leg up in 2001 from the Center Dance Association, a new group dedicated to filling two venerable downtown L.A. venues, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Ahmanson […]

At 19 years old, Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s Christian Burse commands the stage with expansive and exacting movement beyond her years. In Dwight Rhoden’s recent Endgame, she uses her classical sensibility to morph into contemporary shapes, her gaze projecting into the audience with cool intensity. Her stability in moments of stillness is as much of a standout as her quick feet and soaring leaps.

Show Me 50 Celebrating Kansas City Ballet   When a ballet company in America’s heartland turns 50, it’s cause for rejoicing. Kansas City Ballet has been doing just that since October, dancing virtually nonstop in an eclectic repertoire representative of American ballet’s past and present, while looking to the future. No surprise there. The collective […]

When I began studying dance in the 1970s I had never seen any Asian dancers and I didn’t know if I would have a future in dance. That began to change when I saw the Ailey company and their Asian dancers. When I joined the Martha Graham Company, Martha had a fascination with Asian people. […]