Body of work helps keep languages alive
Over the years, choreographer Alonzo King has ranged far and wide in his choice of collaborators, but one of the most fascinating of the bunch made his debut with Lines classical ballet at its spring season opening Thursday, May 4, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater.
He is poet and language detective Bob Holman, and his contribution to King’s new company piece, “Figures of Speech,” is substantial. Accompanying most of the 19 sections of the work is an excerpt from almost extinct languages, textured with music by Alexander MacSween and Philip Perkins. It all sounds a wee bit exploitative, but the score has inspired
DANCE REVIEW
some of King’s finest choreography in a while. From Yujin Kim’s entrance, with a video tracing her progress, to the outstanding finale, King’s creative control rarely loses focus.
Dance and language share at least one characteristic; they will exist as long as there are people to perform or speak them. You can record dances or language, but nonperformance and the absence of verbal communication in a particular tongue spells extinction.
King seems aware of this. There’s a tribal feeling to “Figures of Speech” that is new to his dances. After Kim’s solo, the other dancers’ loping, circular entrance suggests community, and that feeling recurs often. Dancers spread across the stage as if they were surrounding a campfire. King’s ensembles used to look
Alonzo King Lines Ballet:
Alonzo King and Bob Holman’s “Figures of Speech.” Through May 14, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard St., San Francisco. Tickets $35-$85, (415) 987-2787, www.lines ballet.org jumbled, but he’s given them a spirit, especially in a number set to a Comanche hymn. Trios have assumed more importance. Madeline DeVries brings sinewy appeal to an exchange with James Gowan and Maya Harr, both recent arrivals on the roster and both likely to stay awhile.
There’s a spaciousness that suited Robb Beresford in his two solos and the omnipresent Michael Montgomery (his duo with Adji Cissoko was the most persuasive). Of course, if you go to Lines for those arched back, spinning solos, you will find them here. Babatunjiis his dynamic self. The wondrous Courtney Henry is all phenomenal extensions in a number accompanied by the Aboriginal didgeridoo ensemble. The finale, an unbreakable chain of 10 bodies, strong and sculptural, is a stunner.
My only complaint is the absence of translations, either as supertitles or printed texts. Did King amplify meaning in movement, or did he go for atmosphere?
As usual with Lines, “Figures of Speech” looked simple and elegant. Robert Rosenwasser contributed earthtoned costumes that never got in the way. The lighting and video by David Finn and David Murakami plunged us into a perpetual twilight illuminated by the dancers’ verve.