CSU Dance is proud to offer a virtual Nique masterclass and Q&A with artists of Complexions Contemporary Ballet for community dancers. Nique classes combine classical and contemporary vocabulary into a valuable training method for pre-professional dancers. This class is most suitable for intermediate/advanced dancers, but all levels are welcome to observe and participate in the Q&A.

Schedule:

• 12-1 p.m. MST — Nique masterclass with Clifford Williams
• 1-2 p.m. MST — Q&A with Dwight Rhoden, co-founder of Complexions Contemporary Ballet

*Note, registration will not be approved until you have completed this form: Engagement Form
Activity title: Nique

Guest Artists:

DWIGHT RHODEN (Founding Artistic Director/Resident Choreographer of Complexions Contemporary Ballet) has established a remarkably wide-ranging career, earning distinction from The New York Times as “one of the most sought out choreographers of the day.” Dwight has performed with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz De Montreal, and as a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He has appeared in numerous television specials, documentaries and commercials throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe and has been a featured performer on many PBS “Great Performances” specials.

Since 1994, Dwight’s choreography has been the lynchpin in the development of the Complexions repertory. He has been praised for his prolific body of work, visionary style, and boundary-breaking sensibility. He has created more than 80 ballets for Complexions, as well as numerous other companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Arizona Ballet, The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Company, Ballet Gamonet, The Dance Theater of Harlem, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, The Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, New York City Ballet/Diamond Project, North Carolina Dance Theater, The Pennsylvania Ballet, Philadanco, Minneapolis Dance Theater, Phoenix Dance Company, Sacramento Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, The Washington Ballet, and Zenon Dance Company.

Widely known as “a dancer’s choreographer,” Dwight has worked with, coached, and created for some of the most diverse artists spanning the worlds of ballet and contemporary dance. “Rhoden’s work is post-Balanchinean choreography, a new aesthetic in movement, stage, picture, and performance concepts reflecting a post-modern, techno-savvy worldview.” (Dance Magazine) He has directed and choreographed for TV, film, theater, and live performances, including So You Think You Can Dance, E! Entertainment’s Tribute to Style, and Cirque Du Soleil. He has also worked with artists such as Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Kelly Clarkson, and Patrick Swayze.

Rhoden is the resident choreographer of North Carolina Dance Theatre, and has lectured, taught, created works for and served as artist-in-residence at universities around the United States, including New York University, Juilliard ,and The University of Mississippi where his 2004 Racial Reconciliation Project was credited as a catalyst for dialogue in a community that has been historically divided. He is a 1998 New York Foundation for the Arts Award recipient and beneficiary of the 2001 Choo San Goh Award for Choreography. In 2006, he received The Ailey School’s Apex Award in recognition of his extensive contributions to the field of dance.

CLIFFORD WILLIAMS (Company Repetiteur/Artist-in-Residence) attended The Ailey School and The School of American Ballet, both on scholarship. He was a first-level recipient of a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts award in 1998, and attended The Juilliard School, where he danced works by many choreographers including Lar Lubovitch, Igal Perry Hans Van Manen, Jose Limon, and Mauricio Wainrot. In 2001, he was invited to join Dance Theatre of Harlem, where he danced until 2003.

In 2004, Mr. Williams joined Complexions Contemporary Ballet (New York, New York). He has danced works by Dwight Rhoden, William Forsythe, Nicolo Fonte, and Jae Man Joo. Since 2004, Mr. Williams has assisted Director/Choreographer Dwight Rhoden on numerous projects including ballets for North Carolina Dance Theater, Pittsburgh Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, The Diana Vishneva Project, Ballet San Jose, Israel Ballet, Teatro Dell’Opera Di Roma, as well as for the television show “So You Think You Can Dance.” He has also set Dwight Rhoden’s works on The Ailey School/ Fordam University, Boston Conservatory, Harvard University Marymount University, and NYU Tisch School for the Arts.

In addition to setting works for Dwight Rhoden, Williams is certified in teaching “Nique” the official Contemporary Ballet technique of Complexions Contemporary Ballet; he continues to be a part of educational outreach for Complexions. In 2008, he became a Principal dancer with Compañia Nacional De Danza under the direction of Nacho Duato. Mr. Williams rejoined Complexions in 2009, dancing as Principal until 2012 when he was appointed to artist-in-residence. In 2014 Williams was featured in Debbie Allen’s “The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker,” which aired on BET Network. He is was in the cast of the 2016 Golden Globe nominated Starz Network Mini-series “Flesh and Bone.” Most recently, Mr. Williams performed as featured principal character “Meyer Wolfsheim,” alongside soloists from the Mariinsky Ballet, in an international production of The Great Gatsby, choreographed and directed by Dwight Rhoden.