Although the White Bird season is winding down, with only three shows left, what shows! We're approaching our busiest week of the year with two companies back to back, Complexions on April 7 at the Schnitzer, and U-Theatre from Taiwan, April 8-10, at the Newmark. How are we ever going to keep the logistics straight? We load in to the Schnitzer and to the Newmark on the same day, Tuesday, April 7--and we have a Complexions student matinee on Wed, April 7, from 11-12, while we are continuing doing tech on U-Theatre across the street.

We want to give you some background on both companies, as different as can be, but both extremely physical, and in a way both touching on the spiritual. This blog focuses on Complexions.

Complexions was founded by two former stars of Alvin Ailey, Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden. Virtually all the choreography is by Rhoden, and he uses an enormous range of music. In the show coming up on the 7th, it goes from gospel to Steve Reich to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to Mendelssohn, and many others-- and that's only in the first piece "Mercy."  This is the piece in the program focused specifically on spirituality, addressing, abstractly, themes of forgiveness, grace and pity.  Sounds heavy? Yes, but the athleticism and passion in the movement is breathtaking.  The evening continues with several shorter pieces, including the incredible solo for Desmond Richardson "Moonlight," and then everything culminates with a high-energy piece called "Rise," set to the songs of U2.

A vital aspect of Complexions is that Rhoden and Richardson created to the company to erase boundaries--between people, as well as between different styles of dance. The company mirrors the huge ethnic diversity of the U.S., with dancers coming from all over the country, as well as Canada, Cuba, Argentina and elsewhere. The dance also mirrors many different styles, ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, social dancing, and so on.

The incredible popularity of Complexions around the world is due to this fact of the company and its dance mirroring the diverse audiences and diverse music present in the world. Rhoden and Richardson have contributed choreography several times on So You Think You Can Dance, and Richardson has performed on the show as well. They are seeking an audience as broad as possible, and we think that's fantastic.

This dedication of Complexions to diversity, to breaking of borders, provides the theme of our 10th Annual Outreach Project with Portland Public Schools. For the past couple of months PPS students in grades 5-12 have been learning about the company and studying themes of ethnic and  artistic diversity. An added bonus has been the visit of Portland's beloved Jefferson Dancers to three different classrooms to teach movement to the kids. The project, as in the past 9 years, will culminate with a student show for the participating PPS students and teachers on Wed morning, April 7, at the Schnitzer.

 We can't wait to introduce this thrilling company to Portland!