The USA International Ballet Competition audience will witness an astounding mix of methods, styles and cultures when Complexions Contemporary Ballet takes the stage June 14 to open the 2014 festival in Jackson, Mississippi. The USA IBC, June 14 – 29, is designated as the official international ballet competition in the United States by a Joint Resolution of the Congress.
“We always want to introduce a spectacular ‘wow factor’ opening night, and Complexions, as an inventive and incredibly dynamic group of dancers, will certainly fit the bill,” said Sue Lobrano, USA IBC executive director. “Their power and fluidity are explosive, creating an entirely new vision of human movement.”
Complexions Contemporary Ballet will perform Innervisions (2013), a work that will combine artistry and rhythmic dance moves with bold physicality, all set to the R & B music of Stevie Wonder.
“It will be extremely exciting for the USA IBC audience to experience how Complexions transcends the limitations of a single dance style, period, venue or culture,” Lobrano commented. “We anticipate a brilliant performance that will pay joyful homage to Stevie Wonder’s well-known rhythms and lyricism.”
Founded in 1994 and based in New York, Complexions has received numerous awards and has appeared throughout the United States, at major European dance festivals and in shows around the globe. Its founders and artistic directors, Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, are known for creating an open, continually evolving form of dance that reflects the movement of the world and all its constituent cultures as an interrelated whole. Rhoden, whose choreography has been the lynchpin in the development of the Complexions repertory, choreographed Innervisions.
Tickets to the USA IBC’s opening ceremony, including the competitors’ Parade of Nations and Complexions Contemporary Ballet performance, range from $35 to $60 and may be purchased at www.usaibc.com. Tickets for other individual performances during the three rounds of competition are priced from $7 to $70 and may also be purchased via the website.
The USA IBC is a two-week, “olympic-style” competition where tomorrow’s stars vie for medals, cash awards, company contracts and scholarships. The event is designated as the official international ballet competition in the United States by a Joint Resolution of the Congress. Presented under the auspices of the International Dance Committee, International Theatre Institute of UNESCO, the USA IBC is held every four years in Jackson, Miss., in the tradition of sister competitions in Varna, Bulgaria, and Moscow, Russia.
###