Rockjazz Pianist ELEW will Perform with COMPLEXIONS BALLET 11/15-11/27

WHAT COME, THEREAFTER will be the centerpiece of a special Salute to Desmond program celebrating the contributions of Desmond Richardson to the art of the dance, Complexions, and the greater dance community as he marks his final season as a touring performer with the company. As an artist with Complexions, Alvin Ailey, American Ballet Theater, Ballet Frankfurt and others, Richardson has served as an ambassador for American dance and African-American achievement. He is often hailed as one of the great dancers of our time. WHAT COME, THEREAFTER will be a work developed by New York-based artists, in honor of a New York icon. It will mark a milestone in the history of Complexions Contemporary Ballet.

ELEW and Complexions share a passion for creating art that refuses to be bound by the fetters of traditional genre distinctions. Just as ELEW combines elements of jazz, rock, ragtime and pop to form his own imitable musical style, Complexions fuses aspects of ballet, modern, African and hip-hop in the creation of its own singular brand of movement. With this in mind, it is only natural that these two iconoclastic organizations have come together to build something wholly original.

2011 New York City Joyce Season
November 15th - November 27th
The Joyce Theater
175 8th Ave
New York, NY 10011
http://complexionsdance.org/performances-and-tickets/nyc-joyce-season/

Tickets start at $10.00. Tickets can be purchased by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800, in person at the Box Office (Monday - Friday 12-6pm), or online by visiting www.Joyce.org. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th street).

A musical innovator who has already gained global attention with his inimitable 'Rockjazz' covers of modern pop favorites, pianist ELEW is now making a substantial impression on the dance world with striking original scores for famed companies including The Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and most recently Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Forsaking a piano bench, ELEW stands before his instrument like a runner at the starting line, furiously manipulating today's rock and pop hits with a creative potency that has earned him collaborations with not only today's biggest dance companies, but a list of musicians and organizations that include Josh Groban, Dave Matthews, America's Got Talent, Fendi, Donna Karan, Google and more.

It is artistic directors Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson's lifelong appreciation for the artistic & aesthetic appeal of the multicultural that forms the cornerstone of Complexions Contemporary Ballet's singular approach to reinventing dance. The company's foremost innovation is that dance should be about removing boundaries, not reinforcing them. Whether it be the limiting traditions of a single style, period, venue, or culture, Complexions transcends them all, creating an open, continually evolving form of dance that reflects the movement of the world-and all its constituent cultures-as an interrelated whole.

It is Rhoden and Richardson's unique career paths that have paved the way for them to re-define dance-as their multifaceted resumes will show, neither has ever been comfortable with his art being placed in a box. Instead, from E! to PBS to VH1, from Cirque de Soleil to the Joffrey Ballet to So You Think You Can Dance, the two have allowed the transformative power of their art to flow freely throughout the entertainment world-their creative vision restricted by nothing but the limits of the human body itself.