Alonzo King is committed to upholding a vision of humanity, based on sharing and freedom, without renouncing his origins, which are deeply rooted in the American imagination. For Refraction, he exalts the individualism of dancers, thanks to the extraordinary sonorities of composer Jason Moran Dustand Light plunges the spectator into the intimate, radiant atmosphere of Corelli's baroque variations, combined with the choral songs of Francis Poulenc.

When Jason Moran played the Village Vanguard in New York a few years ago, he opened the set with a little layering of recorded sounds in which he heard a harmonious synthesis: there was a slice of Bartok, which slid into a rap phrase laid over a Delta-blues guitar lick, and then, rolling out over the top, the sonorous tones of Sir John Gielgud, the eminent Shakespearean actor, declaiming those lines from The Merchant of Venice: “Here we will sit, and let the sounds of music/Creep in our ears.” Named “the most provocative thinker in current jazz” by Rolling Stone, and recently honored as one of the “37 Under 36: America's Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences” by the Smithsonian, Jason Moran is both steeped in the traditions of jazz and committed to pushing its boundaries. He combines technical virtuosity with an open-ended approach to jazz ; the New York Times called the Vanguard performances “pliable, hot, telepathic.”
Moran is also a fearless explorer of the musicality of our everyday lives. “I am always hoping my music will move its audience,” Jason Moran said about his collaboration with Alonzo King Lines Ballet. “And, as a young musician, I often wonder what effect my music would have on conscious movement.”
Moran's collaboration with Lines Ballet, Refraction, which premiered in Fall 2009 in San Francisco, marked the first time Moran had composed for dance. He confided that his first experience watching Alonzo King and the Lines dancers in the studio was “a breakthrough - I wasn't ready for what I witnessed,” and is intent on listening for the underlying music of their movement, the song that hums in the body : the wondrous creeping of music in our ears.

Source : Alonzo King Lines Ballet

Combining a classical technique with personal intervention, Alonzo King projects his performers in a nonstop dance translating into a staggering articulation of bodies. After a dancer's career at Alvin Ailey company and American Ballet Theatre, Alonzo King moved to San Francisco and in 1982 founded LINES Ballet which today is one of the most prestigious and exciting companies in North America. Highly recognized in the United States, he has worked regularly with opera, television and cinema. At the same time he is invited to work with the largest companies around the world. William Forsythe stated that "Alonzo King is one of the few, true Ballet Masters of our times."  Admirer of Balanchine, he creates bridges between tradition and modernity and developes an inventive, sensual and vibrant dance with impeccable classically trained dancers.  Through his collaborations with artists from different disciplines and cultures, he proposes a work that is always new and fed by cultural diversity. As a visionary choreographer, Alonzo King is renowned for his incredible ability to grip the audience with a real humanity and a deep sense of freedom. The company 's repertoire includes 13 pieces, especially Meyer (2013), Biophony (2015), Sand et Art Song (2016) et Figures of speech (2017).

Source : Le Trait d'Union

More information : linesballet.org

Following his cinema studies in Aix en Provence, he partnered with the film director Thierry Graton and together they created a production structure that enabled him to associate his two passions at the Opéra de Marseille, the Festival d'Aix, the Festival d'Avignon, etc.


At the beginning of the 1990s, he met Angelin Preljocaj who initiated him to a world that he knew nothing of: contemporary dance. They worked together on around fifteen productions. Together, they were awarded the Grand Prix from the Video Dance Festival for Le Parc.


Since 2000, he is frequently called upon for musical and dance programmes that are filmed live and direct.
 

Source: University of Rennes 2
 

Artistic Direction: Alonzo King

Creation: 1982

Alonzo King LINES Ballet is a celebrated contemporary ballet company that has been guided since 1982 by the unique artistic vision of Alonzo King. 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, imbuing classical ballet with new expressive potential. Alonzo King understands ballet as a science – founded on universal, geometric principles of energy and evolution – and continues to develop a new language of movement from its classical forms and techniques. Alonzo King’s visionary choreography, brought to life by the extraordinary LINES Ballet dancers, is renowned for connecting audiences to a profound sense of shared humanity.
 

"The term LINES alludes to all that is visible in the phenomenal world. There is nothing that is made or formed without a line. Straight and Circle encompass all that we see. Whatever can be seen is formed by a line. In mathematics it is a straight or curved continuous extent of length without breadth. Lines are in our fingerprints, the shapes of our bodies, constellations, geometry. It implies genealogical connection, progeny and spoken word. It marks the starting point and finish. It addresses direction, communication, and design. A line of thought. A boundary or eternity. A melodic line. The equator. From vibration or dot to dot it is the visible organization of what we see." Alonzo King

Source: Alonzo King LINES Ballet 's website

More information : linesballet.org