Hailed by the New York Times as one of the great modern dancers of his time, Desmond Richardson is a multi-talented artist who has mastered a wide range of dance forms including classical, modern, and contemporary. Richardson’s immense talent was first recognized as a student at New York High School for the Performing Arts during which time he received a merit scholarship from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and the International Academie des Tanz in Koln, Germany.

In 1987, Richardson joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater where he was a principal dancer for seven years. In 1997, he joined the American Ballet Theater where he performed the lead role in the company’s world premiere production of Othello. In its description of Richardson’s performance in that role, the New York Times described him as “one of the most majestic dancers ever to tread the MET Stage.”

In 1998, Richardson joined the premiere cast of the Broadway Musical Fosse for which he received a 1999 Tony Award Nomination! He has also appeared on Broadway in the musical, The Look of Love and in the critically acclaimed Movin’ Out. He had a principal role in Debbie Allen’s dance/theatrical presentation, Soul Possessed, which premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1999. Richardson has performed with such musical artists as Michael Jackson, Prince, Aretha Franklin, and Madonna. He is featured in Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi’s film, One Last Dance and the Oscar winning feature film Chicago.

His recent honors include the Alvin Ailey School’s 2006 Apex award and the prestigous 2007 Dance Magazine Award.

When Mia Michaels is asked who her favorite dancer is, her reply is “Desmond Richardson...He is an inspiration and a legend!” The PULSE Staff enjoyed an evening at the Joyce Theatre, NYC on May 24, 2011 where we proudly watched Desmond perform with his company, Complexions, and receive the prestigious “Capezio 60th Annual Dance Award” – which is an amazing honor!

Also, if you were watching So You Think You Can Dance Season 7, you saw him perform, and for season 8 he and Dwight choreographed a beautiful duet!