Goucher College: Alonzo King's LINES Ballet

LINES alludes to all that is visible in the phenomenal world. There is nothing that is made or formed without line. Straight and Circle encompass all that we see. In mathematics, LINES are straight or curved continuous extents of length without breadth. LINES are in our fingerprints, the shapes of our bodies, constellations, geometry. LINES implies genealogical connection, progeny and spoken word, marking the starting point and finish. LINES addresses direction, communication, and design. A line of thought, a boundary or eternity, a melodic line: the visible organization of what we see.

LINES Ballet, an international dance company based in San Francisco, performs contemporary ballet to critical acclaim in the U.S. and abroad. After 25 years, LINES Ballet continues to receive acclaim for Alonzo King's visionary choreography, which stretches and renews the traditions of western dance. Alonzo King, founder of LINES Ballet in 1982, is dedicated to exploring the possibilities of movement from a global perspective and actively develops new work with other artists from diverse disciplines and cultures. He understands ballet as a science, founded on principles of energy and evolution, and develops a new language of movement from its classical forms and techniques. LINES Ballet shares this vision of transformative, revelatory dance through performances and outreach activities worldwide.

Seven years after founding the company, Alonzo King inaugurated the San Francisco Dance Center, one of the largest dance facilities on the West Coast, in order to continue the company’s commitment to dance education and community involvement. In order to cultivate the gifts of young, developing dancers, Alonzo King later established the LINES Ballet School in 2001 as well as a joint Pre-Professional program with Dominican University of California in 2006. This is the only joint BFA program in the country to be led by an active, world-renowned choreographer.

LINES Ballet, “one of San Francisco’s most treasured companies,” has performed internationally in venues such as the Venice Biennale and the Movimentos Festival in Germany, and demand for international company appearances continues to grow. Alonzo King’s Handel was also commissioned by the Swedish Royal Ballet. LINES ballet also tours domestically, appearing onstage during spring and fall home seasons in San Francisco. On recent tours in the U.S., the company appeared at Jacob’s Pillow and in venues from New York City to Santa Barbara, including an annual residency at Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Plantation. The company dancers continue to receive glowing reviews for their extraordinary quality in the US and abroad, described as “diamonds twisting in the light or rapidly scratching complex codes on glass,” “wondrous,” and “exquisite.” One dancer, Laurel Keen, recently became the fourth Company dancer to receive the Princess Grace Award.

Alonzo King is renowned for his ability to create works that draw on diverse sets of deeply rooted cultural traditions and imbuing classical ballet with new expressive potential. Through his collaboration with noted composers, musicians, and visual artists, Alonzo King is able to connect audiences to a profound sense of shared humanity, of vulnerability and tenderness, furious abandonment and exhilarating freedom. In December 2006, Alonzo King was recognized as one of the fifty outstanding artists in America by the United States Artists organization. In the first year that these awards have been given, Alonzo King is one of only four Fellows in Dance, and the only dance artist outside of New York to be honored by the USA Fellowship. Alonzo King also received the Bessie Award for Choreographer/ Creator in 2005, the NEA Choreographer's Fellowship, the Irvine Fellowship in Dance, the National Dance Project and the National Dance Residency Program, as well as five Isadora Duncan Awards. In 2005, Alonzo King was also named Master of African-American Choreography by the Kennedy Center. In May 2007, he received a second honorary Doctorate from his alma mater, CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) in Los Angeles.

Alonzo King has works in the repertories of companies throughout the world including Frankfurt Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Hong Kong Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and Washington Ballet; has collaborated with artists such as actor Danny Glover, jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, and tabla master Zakir Hussain; and is noted for his skills as a guest teacher for National Ballet of Canada, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, San Francisco Ballet, Ballet Rambert, Ballet West and others. He has also worked extensively in opera, television, and film.

Alonzo King has also served on panels for the National Endowment of the Arts, California Arts Council, City of Columbus Arts Council, and Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Arts Partners Program. He is a former commissioner for the city and county of San Francisco, and a writer and lecturer on the art of dance. His contributions appear in the books Masters of Movement: Portraits of American Choreographers and Dance Masters: Interviews with Legends of Dance.

The ACDFA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference is proud to feature Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet as our company in residence. All registered participants will receive one ticket to the company’s performance on Thursday, March 13^th 2008. We are sure all will be delighted with the choreography and the dancing! Please use the following link to access additional information regarding LINES Ballet Performance Tickets.