On October 24, the Glorya Kaufman Presents DANCE at The Music Center season in Los Angeles welcomed a triumphant return of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, now celebrating its 30th anniversary with The Retro Suite — a curated anthology of the company’s most iconic works.

Founded in 1994 by Alvin Ailey alumni Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, Complexions has built its reputation on fearlessness — uniting classical precision with contemporary cool, and blurring the lines between technique, culture, and emotion. Their signature methodology, NIQUE, approaches the body as an instrument of total expression, pushing movement beyond symmetry and into exhilarating extremes.

The evening opened with This Time, With Feeling, a thoughtful meditation on musicality and restraint. Dancers floated across the stage en pointe in lavender-toned costumes by Christine Darch, mirroring the lyricism of Beethoven’s piano concerto. Every gesture — understated yet sculptural — felt like a reverent nod to ballet’s past, reinterpreted through a distinctly modern lens.

“Each dancer brings a singular voice, yet all speak the same language: movement as transformation.”

Deeply followed, dialing up the tension with a sultry, near-sculptural pas de trois. Jillian Davis, statuesque and androgynous, commanded the stage like a high-fashion cyborg channeling Botticelli — lifting a male partner in a breathtaking role reversal, then dissolving into staccato phrases that brought to mind the fragmented beauty of a Picasso.

The heart of the evening was Ave Maria. April Watson, dancing with a male partner, delivered a performance of quiet majesty — her balance, breath control, and ethereal presence drawing gasps and, ultimately, a standing ovation. Her use of pointe here wasn’t ornamental — it was a spiritual ascent.

The first act ended with Mercy, choreographed to the Hans Zimmer-arranged version of Giulio Caccini’s sacred classic. The second act opened with For Crying Out Loud, a rousing ensemble piece set to the music of U2. The entire company ignited the stage, channeling the hope, ache, and emotional urgency of the score into electrifying movement. This was dance as visual anthem — ferocious yet tender, personal yet universal.

What distinguishes Complexions is not only its choreography, but its casting: a kaleidoscopic company representing a rich spectrum of races, genders, and body types. Here, diversity isn’t a talking point — it’s the medium itself. Each dancer brings a singular voice, yet all speak the same language: movement as transformation.

The performance ended with a thunderous ovation. The evening — dedicated to the late Glorya Kaufman — embodied the season’s theme, Rise with Us — through dance that inspires and movement that uplifts.” And rise it did, in every leap, every breath, every beat.

With Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Ballet, and the Superstars of Paris still to come, this promises to be one of the most vital and inspiring seasons The Music Center has staged in recent memory.

–Rosane Grimberg

More information on Complexions Contemporary Ballet at https://www.complexionscontemporaryballet.org/

More information on The Music Center at https://www.musiccenter.org/