Cennarium Backstage Issue 2 (Summer 2017) | Page 16

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. 16 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 17