- Source: Alonzo King LINES Ballet
The Alonzo King LINES Ballet (AKLB) is an American contemporary ballet company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The ballet company, founded by choreographer Alonzo King, premiered at San Francisco State University's McKenna Theatre in 1982.
Background
LINES Ballet performs its home season at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco while also maintaining an international touring schedule that includes featured performances at venues such as Venice Biennale in Venice, Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris, and The Kwai Tsing Theatre in Hong Kong. LINES Ballet, which celebrated its 40th-anniversary season in 2022, features a diverse lineup of dancers from countries including Germany, Canada, France, Mexico, and The United States; 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 Alonzo King has collaborated with artists of various backgrounds including composers, musicians, vocalists, and visual artists 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
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
Drew Jacoby
Laurel Keen
Maurya Kerr
Meredith Webster
Courtney Henry
Summer Lee Rhatigan
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 - Poet
Lisa Fischer - 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 - Composer
Mickey Hart - Musician
Zakir Hussain - Musician
Miya Masaoka - Composer, Musician
Jason Moran - Musician
San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra - Music Ensemble
Edgar Meyer - Musician
Bernice Johnson Reagon - Composer, Vocalist
Rita Sahai - Vocalist, Musician
Pharoah Sanders - Musician
Somei Satoh - Composer
Leslie Stuck - Composer
Paweł Szymański - Composer
Danny Glover - Actor
Jim McKee - Sound Designer
Richard Blackford - Composer
Bernie Krause - 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 - 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
Official website
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