Alonzo King LINES Ballet to Make Houston Debut, 5/9

The San Francisco-based contemporary ballet company, Alonzo King LINES Ballet,will make its Houston debut Friday, May 9, 2014, at 8 p.m. in the Wortham Center's Cullen Theater, presented by Society for the Performing Arts.

Led by founder and artistic director Alonzo King, the LINES Ballet dancers are known for connecting audiences to a profound sense of shared humanity. This revered choreographer and his company use principles of science to further develop the language of movement. "The term LINES alludes to all that is visible in the phenomenal world," says King. "There is nothing that is made or formed without line. Straight and circle encompass all that we see. Whatever can be seen is formed by line."

While in Houston the company will perform two works choreographed by King. First on the program is Resin, apiece that moves from intimate duets to the flashing, barely visible footwork of a quartet of dancers, all to Sephardic music. Rare archival field recordings are interwoven with Judeo-Spanish songs by early-music artist Jordi Savall, and the stage is transformed into a shimmering and timeless landscape, as tiny, hardened tears, impressively portrayed by the use of salt, cascade downwards in streams of light.

The final work, Scheherazade, is a re-envisioning of the ancient collection of Persian, Sanskrit and Arabic stories of1,001 Nights. The dancers of LINES Ballet will present a vision of the transformative potential these stories possess. The new score by tabla master Zakir Hussain re-interprets the original music by Rimsky-Korsakov, incorporating traditional Persian, as well as Western instruments.

King founded his 14-member LINES Ballet in 1982. Collaborating with noted composers, musicians and visual artists from around the world, Alonzo King creates works that draw on a diverse set of deeply rooted cultural traditions, infusing classical ballet with new expressive potential. He has been called a visionary choreographer, who is altering the way we look at ballet. King calls his works "thought structures" created by the manipulation of energies that exist in matter through laws, which govern the shapes and movement directions of everything that exists.

As a choreographer, King has works in the repertories of the Swedish Royal Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, Ballet Bejart, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, The Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Hong Kong Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He has worked extensively in opera, television and film. Known for collaborations, seminal works include People of the Forest (2001), choreographed with Baka artists from Central African Republic and Long River High Sky (2007), with China's Shaolin Monks. He has collaborated with actor Danny Glover, legendary jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders, Hamza al Din, Pawel Szymanski, Jason Moran and Zakir Hussain. Renowned for his skill as a teacher, King has been guest ballet master for dance companies around the globe. In 2012 King was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Corps de Ballet International Teacher Conference.

Tickets range from $23-$58 and can be purchased online at www.spahouston.org, by phone at 713-227-4772 or at the courtyard level ticket office at Jones Hall located at 615 Louisiana St. Hours of operation: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday- Friday. For groups of 15 or more call 713-632-8113.

Beyond the Spotlight

• Dance Master Class with Alonzo King LINES Ballet
  7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. Thursday, May 8, 2014
  Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center,

5601 South Braeswood Blvd, Houston 77096

Intermediate and advanced level dance students are invited to a master class led by a company member from Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Beginners and dance lovers may participate as observers. Register in advance for only $5 or pay $10 at the door. Space is limited! Contact the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center at713.729.3200 ext. 3223 or email msilberstein@erjcc.org to register today.

About Society for the Performing Arts

Founded in 1966, Society for the Performing Arts (SPA) is the largest independent non-profit presenting organization in the Southwest. Since its inception, SPA has sponsored more than 1,000 performances of the world's finest music, dance and theater events, in adherence to the belief that the arts are fundamental to the overall enrichment and quality of life within the community. In addition to presenting artists, SPA seeks to provide a variety of learning experiences for adults and children through master classes, lectures and special student performances, as well as build relationships between the performing arts and other interests within the greater Houston area and throughout the state of Texas.

Photo: Michael- Salt from Resin