Fluid. Sexy. Vibrant. Powerful. Unpredictable. Transcendent.
All of these adjectives are often used to describe American
choreographer Alonzo King’s dance movements. However, as
confirmed by his long-standing career as a dancer and ahead of
the famous Alonzo King LINES Ballet company for 35 years, the
purpose of his work is to go beyond appearance and superficiality
in order to reveal the essence behind it. His choreography is
designed to achieve something much deeper through movements
full of content.
ALONZO KING’S
poetry
in motion
Known for his avant-garde artistic insight, memory of a touching movement was watching
Alonzo King is considered one of the most how “beautifully” his mother moved. And, as
important choreographers of our times and he usually mentions in interviews, when he
has been changing the way we look at classical would hear grownups talking, as a child, he
dance. His work has been recognized for its remembers their mouths saying one thing while
impact on the very cultural fabric of both San their bodies said another. And so he began to
Francisco, where his company is based, and believe in the body.
around the world.
Born in Georgia in 1952 and coming from
Regarded by his peers as a visionary and the an African-American family recognized and
great reinventor of classical ballet, King offers engaged in the struggle for equality of social
audiences a new language stemming from the and political rights, King grew up in a culturally
rigors of ballet, but in an exuberant and flexible rich environment, surrounded by prominent
form, presented through geometric shapes. figures. His father, Slater King, inspired and
helped advance the cause of civil rights, and
For him, ballet is not a style but a “science his mother, Valencia King Nelson, founded
of movement”. His works are classified as AfriGeneas, an organization dedicated to
“thought structures”, where disciplines such African ancestry.
as architecture, mathematics and medicine
BY FABIANA GUTIERREZ
blend into the art of dancing. All this may seem King began his dance studies in Santa Barbara,
somewhat complicated in theory, but all it takes California, and later on continued his training
is a glimpse of his choreography to understand in New York, where he developed his career
how it all fits together perfectly and makes working for prestigious companies such as the
absolute sense. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and the
Dance Theatre of Harlem, among others.
Photo by RJ Muna.
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Cennarium.com
Alonzo King’s unique vision of dance is In 1982, King moved to San Francisco and
inherently linked to his background. His first founded Alonzo King LINES Ballet, where
#cennariumbackstage
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