Coming to Jacob’s Pillow: a balletic Bowie joyride

Growing up in the 1970s, choreographer Dwight Rhoden was completely taken with rock star David Bowie, whose brilliant genre-bending, boundary-busting innovation made him arguably one of the most influential musical figures of the past century. “His music spanned every genre,” says Rhoden, the founding artistic director and resident choreographer of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. “Every album changed direction and he reinvented himself in his persona. He was a chameleon, courageous and unapologetic, no holds barred, just who he was, and that was empowering as a young person … I think there’s a little Bowie in all of us.”

When Complexions Contemporary Ballet makes its Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival debut this summer Aug. 9-13, the company presents Rhoden’s one-act tribute to the cultural legend called “Star Dust,” which features nine of Bowie’s most iconic hits. “Star Dust” anchors a program that should provide a wide-ranging sampler of Rhoden’s choreography.

“Complexions has always pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in ballet,” said Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival’s director Pam Tatge via email. “Their dancers will take us from achingly moving works set to music by Bach and Vivaldi to the joy-ride that is ‘Star Dust’ and the brilliance of David Bowie. It’s time for audiences at the Pillow to see what the world has been experiencing for nearly 30 years.”

The award-winning company’s debut at Jacob’s Pillow, after having performed in 20 countries on five continents over the past three decades, is long awaited. Rhoden and dance superstar Desmond Richardson founded the New York-based company in 1994 as the two were winding down their tenures as dancers for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The versatile, Tony Award-nominated Richardson, who was the first Black principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre, was heading to dance with Frankfurt Ballet. Rhoden, who had recently created a work for the Ailey company, was “bitten by the choreography bug.” So the venture initially was intended as a side project bringing together dancers from Joffrey Ballet and ABT with modern dancers, street dancers, and improvisers. “We got together all our friends and wanted everyone to be as different as possible so we had a studio full of energy and growing and being inspired,” Rhoden says. “The foundation of who we are stemmed from diversity.”

After their first concert, the pair realized they had something big, and commitment to diversity, unheard of in the ballet world at the time, became Complexion’s hallmark. Grounded in ballet, the company is known for its high-intensity mix of methods, styles, and cultures. Rhoden likens the company to a rich stew, intentionally bringing together and celebrating different body types and sizes, backgrounds, technical strengths, personalities. “It’s a lot to manage, to be a cohesive and harmonious whole,” Rhoden admits. “But there’s a rigor to our rehearsal process, and we work hard to make that happen.”

And in the process, Rhoden and Richardson believe the company can embody its stated mission of “bringing unity to the world one dance at a time.” Rhoden says, “When people come to the show, I hope they can see themselves in some way in the stories we’re telling, the spirit of the dancers, all the different types, their individuality.”

The Jacob’s Pillow program showcases that individuality, as well as the dancers’ skills and versatility, with pieces set to music ranging from Vivaldi and Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata to gospel singer Tye Tribbett. But the big draw is bound to be the kaleidoscopic one-act “Star Dust,” which has become one of the company’s most popular signature works since its premiere in 2016, just months after Bowie’s death.

Rhoden calls it a kind of love letter to Bowie as the music world’s king of continual reinvention. The work features a cast of 15 and the lighting and costuming (including glittery Ziggy Stardust-inspired face paint) of glam rock.

“I hope I’m conjuring a visual feast that encapsulates the environment [Bowie] created with the words and music of his songs,” Rhoden says. “It is based on seven or eight Bowie figures. I wanted to show the many different sides of him, almost like going through each sound and transition from one character to another from different eras of his catalog.”

He adds, “This work holds a special place for me. I wanted to do this sheerly because I loved the music. [It was] a way to enjoy the beauty of one of the most unique performers and pay tribute to him because of what he brought to me.”

COMPLEXIONS CONTEMPORARY BALLET

At Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket, Aug. 9-13

Tickets $54-$90, jacobspillow.org

Karen Campbell can be reached at [email protected].