No upcoming perfomances found for this event.
About the Show
WORLD PREMIERE
Conducted by Ming Luke
The Charleston Gaillard Center and Charleston Symphony proudly present the world premiere of Dark Water, a bold new ballet by acclaimed choreographer and Complexions co-founding artistic director Dwight Rhoden with an original score by Charleston composer Edward Hart. Inspired by the Lowcountry’s most defining element—its dark, mysterious waters—Dark Water moves in mystery, tracing a choreographic journey through the harbors, swamps, tidal creeks, rice fields, and shoreline that shape the region. Hart’s sweeping composition provides a dense, ever-shifting soundscape that mirrors the power and beauty of these environments, and the ecological challenges they face. Rhoden’s choreography—fluid, physical, and emotionally resonant—emphasizes transformation, as a large ensemble of artists forms and re-forms like a flock, conjuring images that blur the line between abstraction and vivid realism. With Complexions’ signature athleticism and expressive artistry, the work evokes both the natural landscapes and layered histories of South Carolina’s coast, while exploring themes of time, memory, and the human impact on the environment. The evening’s program will also include a repertory work by Rhoden for Complexions, the boundary-pushing company he co-founded with the legendary Desmond Richardson.
Water is the defining feature of the South Carolina Lowcountry. From the coast to the swamps, our water has one common characteristic; it is dark. That is due to a variety of ecological factors including the vast amount of silt (pluff mud) found in our expansive tidal marshes and estuaries along the tea-colored tannins that stain our inland waterways. Unlike the transparently blue Caribbean water, dark water is more mysterious, holding secrets, literally and metaphorically. In this multi-movement dance work, I hope to explore the character of five types of dark water found in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Edward Hart, Composer Note
Beethoven Concerto
First Comes Love
Gone
Ave Maria
Mercy (excerpt)
–Intermission–
Dark Water
A Ballet in 5 Movements
I. Harbor
II. Cypress Swamp
III. Tidal Creek
IV. Flooded Rice Field
V. Beach
Beethoven Concerto
2025
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden
Music: Piano Concerto #5
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Performed by: Bilgude Ariunbold, Jordan Beasley, Aeron Buchanan, Michael Cherry, Angelo De Serra, Chloe Duryea, Aristotle Luna, Marissa Mattingly, Laura Perich Villasmil, Jasmine Robinson, Lucy Stewart, Manuel Vaccaro
PROGRAM NOTE: Beethoven Concerto and This Time With Feeling are 2 pieces with identical choreography, composed to 2 different pieces of music. This exploration is a process-oriented tool that bolsters the concept of movement as language and places the artist in the driver’s seat to interpret the choreography in different ways according to the music, and the story to be told.
First Comes Love
2025
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden
Music: David Rozenblatt
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Performed by: Jillian Davis and Joe González
Gone
2000
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden
Music: Odetta
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Performed by: Michael Cherry, Aristotle Luna, Drazen Wilmers
Ave Maria
1995
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden
Music: Giulio Caccini*
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Performed by: Chloe Duryea and Bilgude Ariunbold
Costume Reconstruction made possible by Tyrone D. Davidson
*Ave Maria by Giulio Caccini
Mercy (excerpt)
2009
Music: Hans Zimmer*
Performed by: The Company
* Mercy: 160 Bpm by Hans Zimmer.
Dark Water
2026 World Premiere
Choreography: Dwight Rhoden
Composer: Edward Hart
Conductor: Ming Luke
Orchestra: Charleston Symphony
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Scenic/Visual Design/Projections: Greg Emetaz
Costumes Design: Christine Darch
Performed by: The Company
A BALLET IN 5 MOVEMENTS
I. Harbor
Powerful tidal currents, eddies, and waves form as huge volumes of water rush out of estuaries toward the ocean or return with equal intensity.
II. Cypress Swamp
The sun glimmers off the still, black, tannin-stained water into colorful shards that grow evermore mysterious with the approaching twilight.
III. Tidal Creek
A gentle meandering tide flows through the vascular waterways only to slow to a breathless pause and change directions.
IV. Flooded Rice Field
A tranquil mirror of water is divided by green rows that tell a dark story.
V. Beach
A capricious wind sweeps over the mother of waters creating distant roars fading into diminishing whispers.
This program is supported in part by the Wayne and Alicia Gregory Family Foundation, Herzman-Fishman Charitable Fund, Charleston Concert Association, Wendi and Ray Huff, Wardell and Margie Morse, and the supporters of the Charleston Gaillard Center’s Dance and Commissioning Initiatives.
About Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Complexions was founded in 1994 by Master Choreographer Dwight Rhoden and the legendary Desmond Richardson with a singular approach to reinventing dance through a groundbreaking mix of methods, styles and cultures. Today, Complexions represents one of the most recognized, diverse, inclusive and respected performing arts brands in the world. Having presented an entirely new and exciting vision of human movement on 5-continents, over 20-countries, to over 20-million television viewers and to well over 300,000 people in live audiences, Complexions is poised to continue its mission to bring unity to the world one dance at a time.
Read More
Complexions has received numerous awards including The New York Times Critics’ Choice Award. It has appeared throughout the US, including the Joyce Theater | NY, Lincoln Center | NY, Brooklyn Academy of Music | NY, Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts | New Orleans, Paramount Theatre | Seattle, The Music Center | Los Angeles, Winspear Opera House | Dallas, Cutler Majestic Theater | Boston, New Victory Theater | NY, and Music Hall | Detroit, The Bolshoi Theater, The Kremlin, The Mikhailovsky Theater, Melbourne Arts Center, and will make it’s debut at the Kennedy Center in 2017, as a part of Ballet Across America.
The Company has appeared at major European dance festivals including Italy’s Festival of Dance, the Isle De Dance Festival in Paris, the Maison De La Dance Festival in Lyon, the Holland Dance Festival, Steps International Dance Festival in Switzerland, Łódź Biennale, Warsaw Ballet Festival, Kraków Spring Ballet Festival, the Dance Festival of Canary Islands | Spain, and the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur | Canada. In addition, Complexions has toured extensively throughout the Baltic Regions, Korea, Brazil, Japan, Egypt, Israel, Russia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Serbia, Jamaica, and Australia.
In the 30 years since its inception, the company has born witness to a world that is becoming more fluid, more changeable, and more culturally interconnected than ever before—in other words, a world that is becoming more and more like Complexions itself.
Pre-Show Panel | Beneath the Surface: Creating Dark Water | Friday, March 6 at 6PM | Ballroom III
Discover how Dark Water took shape in a pre-show conversation moderated by co-commissioning partners from the Charleston Gaillard Center (Lissa Frenkel, President and CEO) and Charleston Symphony (Michael Smith, CEO). Composer Edward Hart, choreographer Dwight Rhoden (Co-Artistic Director, Complexions Contemporary Ballet), and media designer Greg Emetaz discuss the collaborative process of creating a new commissioned ballet and the creative partnership that brought this world premiere to life. The moderated discussion will conclude with time for audience questions.
EDWARD HART (Composer) Edward Hart’s music has been performed in the United States, Latin America, Africa, Australia, and Europe including performances in New York, Vienna, Kiev, Sydney, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Moscow, and at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Reviewers have described his music as “mesmerizingly rich,” “clearly visual,” and “an accessible style that clearly communicates to audiences.” His works include concerti for violin, piano, string quartet, and guitar, various orchestral works, chamber music, solo piano compositions, choral music, and art songs. Ensembles that have performed his music include the Kiev Philharmonic, Arpeggione Chamber Orchestra (Austria), Orquesta de Baja California, Philharmonica de Montevideo, Symphony of the Americas, Charleston Symphony, Lviv Philharmonic, and the Harlem, Shanghai, and Arabella quartets. In 2023, his albumUnder and Indigo Sky, featuring the Charleston Symphony, spent six weeks on the Billboard top ten Traditional Classical Albums list. He has received many commissions and has served as Composer in Residence of the Charleston Symphony. Hart’s choral music is published by Colla Voce.In addition to music, he has a passion for the outdoors and salt-water fishing. Hart is married to novelist Beth Webb Hart with whom he has two children, Frances and Edward. Hart is a native of Charleston, South Carolina and holds a Doctorate from the University of South Carolina where his primary composition teacher was Gordon “Dick” Goodwin. He is on the music faculty of the College of Charleston.
DWIGHT RHODEN (Co-Founder, Co-Artistic Director, Principal Choreographer) 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.” Rhoden began dancing at age seventeen, and performed with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz De Montreal, and as a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 1994, alongside Desmond Richardson, he founded COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet, bringing their unique brand of contemporary ballet to the world, forging a center for innovation and cutting-edge programming. Rhoden’s choreography has been the lynchpin of the company’s repertory development. In three decades, he has created over 100 ballets for COMPLEXIONS, as well as for numerous other companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Arizona Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, BalletMet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, New York City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, PHILADANCO!, Mariinsky Ballet, Zenon Dance Company, The Washington Ballet, The Houston Ballet and The San Francisco Ballet, among many others. Rhoden has also choreographed for So You Think You Can Dance, E! Entertainment’s Tribute to Style, AMICI, Cirque Du Soleil’s Zumanity, Mozart Her Story, and collaborated with artists including Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Paul Simon, Nina Simone, and many more. A recipient of The New York Foundation for the Arts Award, The Choo San Goh Award for Choreography, and The Ailey School’s Apex Award, and an Honorary Doctorate from the Boston Conservatory in recognition of his extensive contributions to the Field of dance. Currently he is Adjunct Professor at Howard University, and Artistic Professor of Dance at Chapman University.
GREG EMETAZ (Scenic/Visual Design/Projections) is a filmmaker and video designer. THEATER: The Vagrant Trilogy, The Public Theater; Joseph, All Shook Up, Footloose, Singin’ in the Rain, The Muny; Mama Mia!, Newsies, TUTS; Man of La Mancha, Come From Away, Asolo Rep; OPERA: Champion, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, The Metropolitan Opera; La Fanciulla Del West, NCPA Beijing; M. Butterfly, Tristan, The Righteous, Santa Fe Opera; CONCERT: A Night of Mellon Collie & Infinite Sadness, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville Tour; FILM: feature film Amador County Has No Coroner (upcoming), Camp Wedding, Behind-the-scenes documentaries: Julie Taymor’s The Tempest and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. MINORapocalypse.com
Student & Teacher Tickets
We are pleased to announce student and teacher tickets are available for this performance. Limited availability. Limited to two tickets per person with valid student/teacher ID.
Student and Teacher tickets available in advance: Tickets are $36.73 for Green seats on seating map. Price will update after Student/Teacher ticket is added to the cart. Ticket purchasers must pick up their tickets at Will Call the night of the performance.
Click here to sign up for education emails, including those regarding our student and teacher ticket program.
Buy More and Save
Buy three or more Gaillard Center presented performances in the 2025–2026 season and receive 10% off your purchase.
Discount automatically applied at checkout when three or more performances are added to the cart.
Offer excludes Box Tier Seats, VIP programs, and the following shows: Diana Krall, Hannah Berner, Charlie Berens, Old Crow Medicine Show, Elmo’s Got the Moves, and The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes. Does not include Charleston Symphony presented performances. Other exclusions may apply. Shows included in the discount will include a disclaimer on their individual event page.
No retroactive discounts.
Please note that for this performance online purchases have a limit of eight (8) tickets per customer. To purchase additional tickets or to inquire about group sales, please contact the ticket office directly at (843) 242-3099.