THE recent performance of Complexions Contemporary Ballet on the Main Hall in Cairo Opera House represents the latest American dance group to visit Egypt during this season. Complexions Ballet was founded in 1994 by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, two renowned dancers from Alvin Ailey Ballet Company that visited new Cairo Opera House soon after its opening. The recent Cairo performance came in two acts. The first entitled ‘The Medley', and presented five dance pieces from the repertory of the company as follows: ‘Hissy Fits' (2006), ‘Gone' (2000), ‘Momentary Forevers' (2007), ‘Moody Booty Blues' (2006), and ‘Mercy' (2009). The second act presented one work only, namely “Rise” produced in 2007. The music accompanied the dance in the two acts ranged from classical music, such as music of Bach in “Hissy Fits” and the modern composer John Cage in “Momentary Forevers”, to Blues music of Buchanan in ‘Moody Booty Blues'. The piece “Mercy” was designed to the songs of the famous Irish rock band ‘U2'. Most of the works focused through solo and duet dances on the athletic and gymnastic skills of the company's members. Although the choreographer Dwight Rhoden tried to express some ideas and emotions in the dances, the impressive element undoubtedly was the innovative and difficult body movements. Moreover, the ability to mix elements of the classical and modern dance on the one hand, and African with athletic movements on the other characterised the choreography. The accompanying music with its variation from Jazz, Pop, Blues, Classic, and Electronic music rendered the dances very accessible to the audience. The dance with its reliance on the human body with its anatomical details made the outcome a kind of ‘sportive dance' that can be performed in sport and concert halls alike. The performance tends to abstraction by dispensing with décor and using very simple costumes in order to show the details of human body. The lighting of Michael Korsch, however, was used elaborately and eloquently, for it expressed perfectly the themes provoked by the dance and resulted in deepening and enriching the choreography. Korsch's great expertise in the world of ballet and dance in Europe and the States has certainly added a lot to works of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. The performance included some classical ballet movements, which were performed with perfection due to the great efforts of the ballet master Jae Man Joo. The impressive performance of the dancers with their virtuosity standard made one think that they are sixteen soloists. This proves that selecting the dancers was not arbitrary and that a scientifically methodological training was adopted in the rehearsing. In spite of the facts that the performance of Complexion was not mentioned in the printed annual programme of the Cairo Opera House, and that the absence of publicity until very recently, it is indeed a much better ambassador of American theatrical arts than the so-called Broadway show presented on the same stage not long ago. The performance of Complexion occupies a midway position, for it is neither a too-light entertaining group presenting a dancing show, nor a group performing works with a so deep theatrical and dramatic vision that it could whet the appetite of the experienced and highly-cultured audience. ([email protected])
