Though we’re on the cusp of Nutcracker season, audiences shouldn’t expect tutus or Tchaikovsky at Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet. Instead, prepare for performances rich with primal edginess and intensity.
For more than 30 years, Alonzo King has choreographed LINES, an award-winning contemporary ballet company based in San Francisco. King often collaborates with a variety of composers, musicians and visual artists, including this season’s composer, percussionist and tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, to bring unique experiences to the stage. Hussain, along with Indian classical violinist Kala Ramnath, perform their original score live for the popular Rasa at LINES’ fall home season opening Nov. 14.
In addition to Rasa, which returns this year since it first debuted in 2007, the company premieres its latest masterpiece, an energetic work set to four Shostakovich string quartets. The musical selections undoubtedly enrich each show, but the dancers themselves impress and captivate the audience.
Each LINES performance unfolds across a simple yet visually stunning stage as dancers turn, leap and push themselves with rhythmic complexity. Agile, deliberate and sleek, the eleven dancers draw on classical ballet training yet offer twists and surprises. They make what seems physically impossible appear not only graceful, but fun. The LINES experience is as aesthetically pleasing as it is emotionally moving, and for those with even a vague interest in dance, it is definitely not to be missed.
—Dani Burlison
