I asked him if he realised the significance of this training.
“I was thinking, ‘how do I use this?’ and low and behold there I was right after school being in Ailey and having my first Broadway show and then being in a film”, he said. “I remember being on a Broadway show and singing the songs of Burt Bacharach. There were only nine of us in the show and there were sixty songs to sing, so I had to have the ability to own it, live it and deliver without stressing. I had to realise that I am a singer, I know what I’m doing and there is a technique and I understand the technique. It’s the same with the acting. I know how to deliver it. It really has informed all parts of my dancing.”

As such a multi-talented artist, I asked Desmond about the importance of being a ‘triple threat’. “Versatility is the key”, he advised. “I always had great teachers and was so blessed because I had those particular people that said, ‘try to be versatile not just be a triple threat and just sing, dance and act, but take it to another level’ (in terms of mixing dance genres and styles). Then the choreographers and directors are eager to work with you because you’re already like a sponge and you’re ready to go”.

As a principal dancer for two of the world’s most revered dance companies, Alvin Ailey and American Ballet Theatre I asked Desmond about his experiences there. Desmond shared, “at Ailey I had the best time because it was my first company and I was brought into the company when I was turning eighteen by Mr Ailey. I worked with Alvin for six years under his tutoring and refining. He just was so amazing in terms of being that sort of person that would say, ‘you need to do all things and you need to do them well. You need to not just be a dancer or singer. Own your craft and be an individual so that people can use you and you can be an instrument’. Desmond reminisced about his time at American Ballet Theatre also. “I had such an amazing time with the Ailey and at American Ballet Theatre, times of giving back and learning so much”, he shared.

Desmond came across as a very thankful and gracious dancer, greatly concerned about the audience and about giving to the community.“What got me here was these people that encouraged me and said you can do it and you need to push yourself because you have a gift”, he explained. They said, ‘you need to hoan in and don’t get big headed about it, because it’s bigger than you. It’s not about you being fantastic, it’s about you being honest with your gift and humble with it so you can give back’”.

Which so many achievements I asked Desmond about his career highlights. “There have been a couple” he explained, “but I will have to say my very first job - it was with Michael Jackson”. Just as Desmond was getting into the Ailey company he got work as a dancer in Jackson’s famous Bad video. “I was like, ‘this is crazy’”, he exclaimed. Desmond worked with Jackson six times over the American Music Awards and HIStory tour. Another highlight was meeting his inspiration, Rudolph Nureyev. “It would have been 1992 and Alvin Ailey was on tour in Paris and we were being presented on the Paris Opera stage”, he told me. “I didn’t know that Nureyev had come because he was really sick at the time. Then after the show I was summoned back stage and was brought into a room. There he was sitting there and my mouth gaped! He said, ‘I think you are fantastic, I appreciate your physicality’. I was looking at him thinking, ‘you’re Nureyev, are you crazy?’ I was just in awe of him and that was really a big highlight for me - for him to tell me that he enjoyed my dancing, and to keep going and to pass the torch. At 27 years old that was like “wow!”

As Complexions Contemporary Ballet toured Australia I spoke to Desmond about the company in which he is co-Artistic Director.  “Dwight and I started the company right back in 1994 when we were with Alvin Ailey” he explained. “Dwight had been choreographing a lot for so many different people, so we decided in summer 1994 to do a concert and bring all those things together. We did three nights and sold out! We looked at each other and said ‘there’s something here!’ There’s something that’s specific to this work that the audience gets, so thus Complexions was born.” With such a unique name, I asked Desmond about their vision for the Company. “Basically it’s about unity, about diversity and not just racially speaking.  It’s more about diversity within all the dance genre, making it accessible and breaking down the fourth wall between the audience and the dancers”, he explained. “We’re in our fifteenth year and it is soaring and we want it to just fly”, he exclaimed. “We want to keep moving and inspiring dancers to watch what we do and to investigate who we are, to continue to learn, absorb and push the boundaries.” With such a unique group of different dancers in the company I asked Desmond about working with such a diverse company. “I love it”, he said, “we can learn from each other”. He explained that “we have to be sharing, giving and learning from each other -  it’s all about that”. Celebrating their fifteenth year Desmond excitedly told me, “we’re really geared up for our fifteenth year anniversary - that’s our big thing. We’re very excited about it. In November we’ll celebrate our fifteenth anniversary at the Joyce Theatre in New York for two weeks!”

With fifteen years of success as co-Artistic Director, choreographer and dancer for Complexions Contemporary Ballet, amongst his many other amazing industry achievements, Desmond Richardson seems to be on a never ending path to success and artistic development. I congratulate Desmond and the company on their anniversary and look forward to the next time he, or his dancers, grace the Australian stage. They really were phenomenal.

To read my review of Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s performance in Adelaide click here.

For more information about Desmond Richardson and Complexions Contemporary Ballet visit www.complexionsdance.org