The Alonzo King LINES Ballet (AKLB) is an American

contemporary ballet Contemporary ballet is a genre of dance that incorporates elements of classical ballet and modern dance. It employs classical ballet technique and in many cases classical pointe technique as well, but allows greater range of movement of the u ...

company based in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. The

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...

, founded by

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Alonzo King Alonzo King, born in Georgia to civil-rights activists Slater King and Valencia King Nelson, is an American dancer and choreographer based in San Francisco. King grew up in Georgia and California, and, as an adult, decided his contribution w ...

, premiered at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

's McKenna Theatre in 1982.

Background

LINES Ballet performs its home season at the

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multi-disciplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, natio ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

while also maintaining an international touring schedule that includes featured performances at venues such as

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Théâtre National de Chaillot The Théâtre National de Chaillot (English: Chaillot National Theatre) is a theatre located in the Palais de Chaillot at 1, place du Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Close by the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro Gardens—the Th ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and The

Kwai Tsing Theatre Kwai Tsing Theatre () is a major performance venue in Kwai Chung, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is located in Kwai Fong, near Kwai Fong MTR station. It was built by the Regional Council and opened on 18 November 1999 to provide a medium-size venu ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. LINES Ballet, which celebrated its 40th Anniversary season in 2022, features a diverse line up of

dancers Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

from countries including

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and

The United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

; and presents programs that exemplify the company's artistic vision to renew and transcend traditional ballet with cross-genre collaborations.

Collaboration

Since its inception, LINES Ballet founder

has collaborated with artists of various backgrounds including

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

vocalists Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, and

visual artists The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

to develop new ballet programs for the company.

Dancers

The listing of dancers currently performing with Alonzo King LINES Ballet as of Spring 2022: * Babatunji Johnson *

Adji Cissoko Adji Cissoko is a German ballet dancer. She is currently a principal dancer at LINES Ballet. Early life Cissoko was born in Munich, Germany, to a German mother and Senegalese father. While growing up, the family visited Senegal regularly and bl ...

* Madeline DeVries * Lorris Eichinger * Shuaib Elhassan * James Gowan * Ilaria Guerra * Maya Harr * Tatum Quiñónez * Michael Montgomery * Alvaro Montelongo * Marusya Madubuko * Joshua Francique

Notable former dancers

Aesha Ash Aesha Ash (born December 30, 1977) is an American ballet dancer and teacher. She danced numerous leading roles as a member of New York City Ballet's corps de ballet and as a soloist with Béjart Ballet and Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Morphoses/T ...

Drew Jacoby Drew Jacoby (born September 2, 1984) is an American contemporary ballet dancer. As of 2020, she is a principal dancer of Royal Ballet of Flanders. Early life Jacoby was born in Boise, Idaho in 1984. She trained at the School of American Ballet ...

* Laurel Keen * Maurya Kerr * Meredith Webster * Courtney Henry

Repertoire

A listing of current and former Alonzo King LINES Ballet programs and collaborative works: * 2022: Deep River * 2019: Pole Star & The Personal Element & AZOTH * 2018: Sutra & Common Ground * 2017: Figures of Speech * 2016: Art Songs & SAND * 2015: The Propelled Heart & Biophony * 2014: Shostakovich & The Steady Heart * 2013: Concerto for Two Violins, Meyer, & AZIMUTH * 2012: Constellation * 2011: Resin, Figures of Thought, & Triangle of the Squinches * 2010: Writing Ground & Wheel in the Middle of the Field * 2009: Scheherazade, Refraction, & Dust and Light * 2008: The Radius of Convergence, The Steady Articulation of Perseverance * 2007: Rasa, Irregular Pearl, & Long River, High Sky * 2006: Sky Clad & Migration * 2005: The Moroccan Project, Handel, Salt, Odd Fellow, & Satoh * 2004: Before the Blues, Rite of Spring, Baker Fix, Coleman Hawkins, & The Patience of Aridity, Waiting for Petrichor * 2003: Heart Song & Syzmanski's Vibraphone Quartet * 2002: Road, Splash, & Koto * 2001: The People of the Forest & The Heart's Natural Inclination * 2000: Soothing the Enemy, Riley, Tango, & In to Get Out * 1999: Shostakovich String Quartet * 1998: Who Dressed You Like a Foreigner?, Tarab, & Long Straight Line * 1997: String Trio, Suite Etta, Three Stops On the Way Home, & Handel Trio * 1996: Klang, Sacred Text, Handel Pas de Deux, & Ground * 1995: Signs and Wonders, Rock, & String Quartet * 1994: Poulenc Pas de Deux, Ocean, & Along the Path * 1993: Bach Cello Suite, Compelling Geological Evidence, & Pavane * 1992: Gurdjieff Piano Music * 1991: Song of the Aka & Cante * 1990: Without Wax & Toccatta in D Minor * 1989: Lila & Fallen Angel * 1988: Awake in the Dream, Ligeti Variations, & Reoccurrence * 1987: Rain Dreaming & Granados Pas de Deux * 1986: Prayer & Stealing Light * 1983: Ictus * 1982: Danse Poulenc, Christine, & Sonata for Three Dancers

Collaborators

A listing of current and former Alonzo King LINES Ballet program collaborators:

Composers, Dancers, Musicians, Performers, and Artists

* Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ - Composer, Musician * Kronos Quartet - String Quartet * Zakir Hussain and Sabir Khan - Musicians *

Bob Holman Bob Holman is an American poet and poetry activist, most closely identified with the oral tradition, the spoken word, and poetry slam. As a promoter of poetry in many media, Holman has spent the last four decades working variously as an author ...

- Poet *

Lisa Fischer Lisa Fischer (born December 1, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She found success with her 1991 debut album ''So Intense'', which produced the Grammy Award–winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". She has been a back-up singer ...

- Vocalist * Charles Lloyd - Musician * El Hamideen - Musician * Jean-Cristophe (JC) Maillard - Composer, Arranger, Musician * San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows - Vocalists * Melody of China - Music Ensemble * BaAka Nzamba Lela - Musician * Maya Lahyani - Vocalist * Miguel Frasconi - Composer *

Hamza El Din Hamza El Din (Arabic حمزة علاء الدين) (July 10, 1929 – May 22, 2006) was an Egyptian Nubian composer, oud player, tar player, and vocalist. He was born in southern Egypt and was an internationally known musician of his native regi ...

- Composer *

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

- Musician *

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

- Musician *

Miya Masaoka Miya Masaoka (born 1958, Washington, DC) is an American composer, musician, and sound artist active in the field of contemporary classical music and experimental music. Her work encompasses contemporary classical composition, improvisation, ele ...

- Composer, Musician *

Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to: * Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster * Jason Moran (musician) Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...

- Musician * San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra - Music Ensemble *

Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won five Grammy Awards and been nominated seven times. Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegrass ...

- Musician *

Bernice Johnson Reagon Bernice Johnson Reagon (born Bernice Johnson on October 4, 1942) is a song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist, who in the early 1960s was a founding member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee's (SNCC) Freedom Singers in t ...

- Composer, Vocalist * Rita Sahai - Vocalist, Musician *

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

- Musician *

Somei Satoh is a Japanese composer of contemporary music. His compositions mix Japanese court music with European romanticism and electronic music. His musical career began with an experimental, mix media group called "Tone Field" in Tokyo. He studied at ...

- Composer * Leslie Stuck - Composer * Paweł Szymański - Composer *

Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films include ...

- Actor * Jim McKee - Sound Designer *

Richard Blackford Richard Blackford (born 13 January 1954 in London, England) is an English composer. Biography Richard Blackford PhD studied composition with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music and conducting with Norman Del Mar. He was awarded the Mend ...

- Composer *

Bernie Krause Bernard L. Krause (born December 8, 1938) is an American musician and soundscape ecologist. In 1968, he founded Wild Sanctuary, an organization dedicated to the recording and archiving of natural soundscapes. Krause is an author, a bio-acoustici ...

- Musician, Bioacoustician * Arturo Fernandez - Choreographer, Dancer, Ballet Master * Meredith Webster - Choreographer, Dancer, Ballet Master

Visual Artists

* Christopher Haas - Architect * Irene Pijoan - Visual Artist * Raymond Saunders - Visual Artist * Alain Lortie - Lighting Designer * Axel Morgenthaler - Lighting Designer * Lisa J. Pinkham - Lighting Designer * David Finn - Lighting Designer *

James F. Ingalls James F. Ingalls is a lighting designer who has worked extensively on Broadway, in London and at many regional theaters including Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera, Playwrights Horizons, Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, and Steppenwolf. His ...

- Lighting Design * Colleen Quen - Costume Designer * Robert Wierzel - Lighting Designer * Sandra Woodall - Costume Designer * Jim Campbell - Visual Artist * Jim Doyle - Water Specialist * Dikayl Rimmasch - Photographer * Marty Sohl - Photographer * Angela Sterling - Photographer * RJ Muna - Photographer * Franck Thibault - Photographer * Quinn Wharton -Photographer * Austin Forbord - Videographer * Jamie Lyons - Photographer/Videographer

External links

*
Selby/Artists MGMT – Artist Representation

Alonzo King LINES Ballet

Tracing Lines with Alonzo KING

Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA at Dominican University of California

Alonzo King LINES Ballet at Aspen Ideas Festival

Alonzo King LINES Ballet performing King's ''Migration '' at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alonzo King Lines Ballet Ballet companies in the United States Culture of San Francisco Performing groups established in 1982 1982 establishments in California Dance in California