After an eight year absence, the final company to make a live in-person appearance on The Music Center’s Dance at Dusk series will be Alonzo Kings LINES Ballet performing on the Jerry Moss Plaza July 14-18, 2021, with a free livestream also available on Sunday, July 18. The event was sold out, but The Music Center just announced that it has expanded the seating capacity and additional tickets will go on sale July 1, 2021, at 10:00 am. Each performance of the Alonzo King LINES Ballet will begin at 7:30 PM (PDT) and run approximately one hour without intermission. An additional change is that the sales of on-site food and beverages will now be offered to ticketed guests prior to and following the performances.
The long-awaited return of LINES Ballet will include a mixed program of exciting solos, duets, and the entire company in King’s physically demanding work The Personal Element (2019), choreographed to music by Jazz composer and pianist Jason Moran. Highlights of the evening include the West Coast premiers of King’s solo for New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck Child of Sky and Earth, and a duet titled Swift Arrow created for Peck and Roman Mejia, also a member of NYCB. LINES will perform excerpts from other of Kings dances: “Over My Head” from Writing Ground; excerpt from The Convergence; “Pie Jesu” from Grace; excerpt from Rasa; and conclude with Epilogue Pas.
Tiler Peck in “The Barre Project” – Photo courtesy of Comm Oddities, Inc.
The company’s residence will begin with The Music Center presenting a new INSIDE LOOK: A Conversation with Alonzo King and Maurine Knighton on Sunday, July 11, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. PT. The online conversation between company founder Alonzo King and Maurine Knighton, the program director for Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, one of the preeminent supporters of contemporary dance in the U.S., discussing King’s creative process and artistic concerns, and how his family background influenced his life in dance. Fans can register in advance to receive the Zoom webinar link at http://www.musiccenter.org/linespanel.
Roman Mejia in “The Barre Project” – Photo courtesy of Comm Oddities, Inc
For those unable to attend the live, in-person performances of LINES Ballet, the Sunday evening performance (July 18) will be livestreamed FREE for the public at musiccenter.org. Fans are encouraged to register in advance to receive reminders and a link to the performance.
In addition The Music Center has also partnered with Lula Washington Dance Theatre to simulcast the Sunday night program live at their Crenshaw/Leimert Park-based dance school (3773 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016). Lula Washington Dance Theater will host a brief introduction and musical presentation at 7:00 p.m. with the simulcast showing at 7:30 p.m. Attendance is free, but donations are welcomed. Seating priority goes to those who pre-register. Guests can register and reserve seating by emailing school.lwdt@gmail.org or by calling the dance studio at 323-292-5852. For more information about Lula Washington Dance Theatre, please visit lulawashington.org.
“As a performing arts center, we struggled with not having our stages alive and our theatres filled with audiences over the last 15 months, so we’re just thrilled to welcome back guests and visitors safely to The Music Center,” said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO, The Music Center. “We were planning and re-configuring plans for Dance at Dusk during the height of the pandemic, but always remained confident that Angelenos would rally to overcome the virus. With numbers at a low point and restrictions lifted, we can now provide additional seating to this sold-out presentation, allowing even more Angelenos to witness the thrill and beauty of live dance and celebrate a sense of normalcy in the safest possible way.”
Alonzo King LINES Ballet – Dancer: Adji Cissoko – Photo © RJ-Muna
Founded in 1982 by King and Executive Director/Designer Robert Rosenwasser, the Alonzo King LINES Ballet is celebrated both nationally and internationally. The company has collaborated with noted composers, musicians and visual artists from around the world. This work has helped to change the way audiences now perceive ballet while still following the basic elements of classical ballet.
Alonzo King (Founder & Artistic Director) has works in the repertories of the Royal Swedish Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, Ballet Béjart, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Hong Kong Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and many others. He has collaborated with distinguished visual artists, musicians, and composers across the globe including legendary jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders, Hamza al Din, Pawel Szymanski, Jason Moran, Charles Lloyd, Mezzo soprano Maya Lahyani, architect Chris Haas, and tabla master Zakir Hussain.
Just a few of the numerous honors and awards that King has received are Dance Magazine Award Honoree, Honorary Doctorate Degree from The Julliard School, Dance Masters of America President’s Award, Doris Duke Foundation Artist Award, Honorary Doctorate Degree from California Institute of the Arts, Kennedy Center for the Arts, Masters of African American Choreography, Los Angeles Lehman Award for Choreography, San Francisco Magazine, Most Creative People in the City, and National Endowment for the Arts, Choreography Fellowship.
Robert Rosenwasser (Founder, Executive Director, Designer) shapes the aesthetic and artistic direction of each project at the Company, including conceptual design and production. In addition to his work with the Company, he has designed for Ballet de Monte Carlo, Ballet Béjart, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Rosenwasser has also collaborated with artists and poets, including Richard Tuttle, Kiki Smith, Laurie Reid, Kate Delos, Rena Rosenwasser, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge and Barbara Guest, designing fine press books. His work can be found at the New York Museum of Modern Art in the Department of Books and Illustrated Prints, at the Whitney Museum, and at the Spencer Collection of the New York Public Library.
Adji Cissoko & Michael Montgomery | Alonzo King LINES Ballet PHOTO CREDIT: © Chris Hardy
WHAT: The Music Center’s Dance at Dusk presents Alonzo King LINES Ballet
WHEN: July 14-18, 2021 @ 7:30 PM (PDT)
WHERE: The Music Center’s Jerry Moss Plaza (with a free livestream also available on Sunday, July 18 to those unable to attend the live performances)
Ticket prices for The Music Center’s Dance at Dusk outdoor series are tiered per experience and sold as a pod of four tickets only. Tickets for Jerry Moss Plaza seating range from $150 (rear section) per pod to $225 (front section) per pod, depending on the day of the week. To purchase ticket pods, starting July 1, 2021, and for information, call (213) 972-0711 or visit musiccenter.org. Advance sales only; tickets will not be available for purchase on-site. *Programs and artists subject to change.
To register to view the free livestream performance on Sunday, July 18th, click HERE.
To visit The Music Center website, click HERE.
Written and compiled by Jeff Slayton from TMC press releases and LINES Ballet website.
Featured image: Adji Cissoko I Alonzo King LINES Ballet PHOTO CREDIT: © Chris Hardy
