Fully Immersive Production ‘Complexions’ Encourages Women To Rest

Eneressa Davis is the Founder and Executive Director of Praize Productions, Inc. (PPI). PHOTO BY RACHEL NEVILLE.
Eneressa Davis is the Founder and Executive Director of Praize Productions, Inc. (PPI). PHOTO BY RACHEL NEVILLE.

Fully Immersive Production ‘Complexions’ Encourages Women To Rest

By Tia Carol Jones

Enneréssa LaNetta Davis and Praize Productions, Inc. are gearing up for their 12th annual production, “Complexions,” will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 13th, at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, which is located at 915 E. 60th St.

Praize Productions, Inc. (PPI) was founded by Davis in 2010, with the mission to provide arts education and opportunities to young people and adults, with a holistic approach that results in participants excelling in the arts, as well as in their everyday lives. There are three components, PPI’s Performing Arts Academy; RIZE Pro-Elite professional dance company and RIZE Youth Company.

Davis, who is also the organization’s executive artistic director, described it as a fully immersive show, which will include dance, digital arts, spoken word and live instrumentation. This year’s production will break down the wall between the audience and the stage and the audience will be part of the show.

“You’ll have pieces where it’s on the stage, but also throughout the audience, various scenic designs, which will make it really feel immersive,” she said.

Davis said she wanted to have a different approach to this year’s production because the story and the work is so intimate. She said “Complexions” deals with women taking pause and rest, and disassociating their work with their worth, and standing in defining  with themselves within the power they already have, which already resides in them. She said that women, especially Black women, always feel as though they have to produce.

“I think so often as Black women, especially Black women in leadership, we’re fighting to be seen and heard throughout the world, both professionally and personally,” she said. She added that there seems to be an unconscious fear that if women aren’t producing, they will become invisible.

Davis wanted to bring that belief to the forefront, so that it can be corrected, and in this generation, women could learn how to rest. She said learning to rest is something Black women are learning to do in real time, because it wasn’t something they were taught. She said it is something that is going to take practice, with women learning to rediscover who they are. She said coming up with timely and intentional themes for the productions is divine and divinely orchestrated.

Davis took a month sabbatical after last year’s production, “Black Love.” She went to Northern California, unplugged and discovered rest and pause. She slowly began to dig herself out of exhaustion and create. She came back with the theme for the next show. She always infused rest and pause within the organization, developing a staff and professional company retreat. She wanted the professional company members and staff to engage with it in their personal lives.

“I’m so happy it came to me that way, because it is so necessary right now, for my personal life and what I’m seeing in the world. There’s so much movement going on, so much confusion and unsettledness, I think we all need to learn how to take pause and stillness and get grounded,” she said.

Davis said the message of the show is needed by everyone in this moment. She hopes that seeing the show changes the audience’s approach to their life and changes the trajectory of life. The 75 to 90-minute production will feature 11 scenes, as well as guest choreographers Dominique Hamilton, Kevin Iega Jeff, and Monique Haley. Davis wants people to go on the journey and be ready to take a full-on ride. 

Davis believes that art should reflect the times and believes that this production is reflective of where the world is as a society. She said she is blessed that she is able to use her gifts and her talents to hopefully make a difference and inspire others to change their lives and to fully embrace their lives. She said we live in a world where people are connected to technology, but disconnected from humanity.

“This show is getting us connected back within ourselves so that we can better connect with others and hopefully make ourselves better and we’ll make our world and our society better, as well,” she said.

Tickets cost $52 for general admission; $87 for VIP tickets, which includes a catered pre-reception and open bar, as well as reserved seating; $127 for benefactor tickets, which includes a pre- and post- performance reception; and $52 for absentee tickets, which allows people to purchase a ticket for someone in need.

For tickets to “Complexion” and more information about Praize Productions, Inc., visit www.praizeproductions.com.


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