Founded in 2021 by former Texas Ballet Theater company member Diana Crowder, Pegasus Contemporary Ballet had a breakthrough performance last fall with Crowder’s captivating adaptation of The Martian author Andy Weir’s short story The Egg. Meanwhile, choreographer Dwight Rhoden and dancer Desmond Richardson’s muscular New York-based Complexions Contemporary Ballet has been wowing Dallas audiences for more than 20 years.
Both are back with new shows.
Complexions returns to the TITAS/Dance Unbound series with a mixed program inspired by music ranging from classical to pop. The centerpiece is Love Rocks, built around seven songs by Lenny Kravitz. The bill also features a pair of 2025 Rhoden works, Beethoven Concerto and Deeply, set to Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel; Gone to music by Odetta; Ave Maria to Giulio Caccini; and an excerpt from the Hans Zimmer-inspired Mercy.
New York-based Complexions Contemporary Ballet has been wowing Dallas audiences for more than 20 years.
Rachel Neville
News Roundups
Elena Olshin will perform in Pegasus Contemporary Ballet’s upcoming shows at Kalita Humphreys Theater.
Allan Gonzalez
Building on the intimate, immersive style of The Egg, Pegasus has commissioned four local choreographers to make new pieces based on 30 words identified by the Common Language Project of the Writer’s Garret meant to encourage poetry around themes. This year’s theme is “Time.”
The dance-makers — Pegasus’ Emma Krusling, former Dallas Black Dance Theatre company member McKinley Willis, Seth York of Bruce Wood Dance Dallas and the legendary Jennifer Mabus, whose latest project is the Grackle Dance Collective — were charged with using movement phrases derived by Crowder and her company from each of the words. The idea behind the collaboration with the Writer’s Garret is to spark individual creativity around a common language.
Details: Complexions Contemporary Ballet on April 4 at Winspear Opera House. Pegasus Contemporary Ballet on April 3-4 at Kalita Humphreys Theater. Tickets at attpac.org and pegasusballet.org.
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