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Celebrating its 30th season in 2024, Complexions Contemporary Ballet comes to the Opera House stage for its first full company engagement at the Kennedy Center. The pioneering company seeks to remove traditional boundaries and embrace the beauty of differences by presenting courageous, cutting-edge programming and encouraging dancers to be authentically themselves.

Founded in 1994 by the renowned Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, Complexions Contemporary Ballet is recognized for its new, exciting vision of human movement, reinventing dance through a groundbreaking mix of methods, styles, and cultures. The program includes a new work by Rhoden entitled For Crying Out Loud. Set to 10 songs from U2’s acoustic album Songs of Surrender, the piece unfolds in an interconnected “wandering narrative.” The full company shines in its diversity, and the raw physicality of individual dancers is undeniable.

“Complexions is distinct and distinguished in so many ways. They straddle classical technique and contemporary sensibilities, their dancers are diverse in every possible sense of the word, and they have long been a beloved creative force in dance. To bring an entire evening of the Complexions’ work to the Kennedy Center is a special opportunity for audiences new and tenured to experience the sheer force of this company!”  

—Jane Raleigh, Kennedy Center director of dance programming