ALONZO KING LINES BALLET

Biography

Alonzo King has been an icon of the international dance scene for more than a quarter of a century. A multicultural and multifaceted choreographer, with his LINES Ballet, founded in San Francisco in 1982, he regularly appears in the most important international seasons and festivals.
Previously a guest in Bolzano during the 2008/09 winter season, Alonzo King returns to the city with two remarkable creations that showcase his poetic, post-classical dance language: Biophony and Writing Ground.
Biophony is set to an original score by Richard Blackford and Bernie Krause, capturing the sounds of nature — a living orchestra over which a classically rooted choreography unfolds.
Writing Ground, created in 2010 for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and later incorporated into the LINES Ballet repertoire, is built on a collage of sacred music from different religions and is inspired by the poems of Colum McCann.
An admirer of George Balanchine and a dancer who has worked with both Alvin Ailey and the American Ballet Theatre, Alonzo King has given his company a dual choreographic legacy. Since the founding of the LINES Ballet Company in 1982, King has developed a distinctive language in which neoclassical purity meets — through striking juxtapositions — the vibrant fluidity of African American dance.
The result is a visionary style designed for contemporary virtuoso dancers, yet infused with deep dramatic intensity. A powerful example is Writing Ground (2010), which, inspired by the poetry of Colum McCann, creates intimate landscapes of movement — rituals of the soul shaped by sacred music.