Lines Ballet at Yerba Buena Center. Alonzo King LINES Ballet in “SAND.” Performers: Yujin Kim and Brett Conway. Photo by Chris Hardy.
Do you think of ballet as a science?
Alonzo King does. The artistic director of Alonzo King LINES Ballet, the San Francisco-based contemporary ballet company he founded in 1982, sees the art form as based upon “universal, geometric principles of energy and evolution,” according to the company’s website. That vision of ballet will be presented at UAB’s Alys Stephens Center, Jan. 7-8.
“We are thrilled to have Alonzo King LINES Ballet as our first contemporary ballet company in our 20th anniversary season,” says Anna M. Thompson, executive director of the ASC. “They are a beautiful company with stunning dancers, and new improvements in the Jemison Concert Hall allow us to present dance in a way we never could before.”
King has accumulated many awards and honors throughout his career. Most recently, he received the Doris Duke Foundation Artist Award and was added to the Dance Heritage Coalition’s “Irreplaceable Dance Treasure” list. His choreography has been performed by companies around the world including Royal Swedish Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, among others.
Alonzo King LINES Ballet’s performances in Birmingham will feature his works “SAND” and “Biophany.”
“SAND,” which premiered last year, is set to music by jazz pianist Jason Moran and tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd. As its title indicates, the work is inspired by sand: its beauty, vastness, unassuming power and use as a metaphor throughout time.
“Biophony,” first performed in 2015, unfolds to a score by Bernie Krause and Richard Blackford created with natural sounds interspersed with moments of music. The title, “Biophany,” comes from Krause’s term for “the collective sound of entire ecosystems.” The score includes the sounds of diverse and contrasting climates from rainforests to mountains, arctic to equator, meadows to marshes, earth to sea.
Alonzo King LINES Ballet
Jan. 7 at 8:00 p.m.
Jan. 8 at 2:00 p.m.
Alys Stephens Center
Jemison Concert Hall
1200 10th Ave S.
Tickets start at $28. Purchase here.