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Alonzo King talks fashion
Read More"There is no other you, so what's interesting about you is you," stated Alonzo King to a packed room of students during a conversation at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. King was on hand to speak with young designers about the relationship of costuming to dance. In a medium that requires considerable range of motion, versatility - in the design and materials - is key. When designing for LINES Ballet, Creative Director Robert Rosenwasser spends hours observing King’s choreography in studio, sketching out designs that meet King’s esthetic vision as well as the practical needs of the ballet ...
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Not your typical dance - Erin McCormick on teaching dance to the kids of DeMarillac Academy
Read MoreStir it! Umpire! Wash the windows! Chicken! Not typical dance terminology unless you are a 4th or 5th grader at DeMarillac Academy. This past Fall Alonzo King LINES Ballet partnered with our Mid-Market community to bring dance to our youth. One of these special relationships includes DeMarillac Academy located in the Tenderloin neighborhood just a few blocks away from our studio. Robin Anderson, Co-Director of the Dance Center and I have been going to the school once a week each to teach dance as a part of the school’s enrichment program.
I have been privileged to take on the ...
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BFA seniors performing Gregory Dawson's new work “Rachmaninov”
Read MoreThe LINES Ballet/Dominican University B.F.A. Program is ending its spring semester with a flurry of performances. Last week the senior class took to the stage at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for a memorable Senior Showcase performance. Missed it? Join us for the B.F.A. Spring Showcase performances this weekend at Dominican University to see what our students have been working on this semester. The showcase features captivating new works by LINES staff member Molly Rogers, former LINES dancer Gregory Dawson, Bay Area choreographer Hope Mohr, and Ballet Memphis Artistic Associate Julia Adam, as well ...
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LINES on Tour - Meredith Webster
Read MoreToday (Wednesday) is our last performance of AZIMUTH until June, and tonight we will separate ourselves from our Hubbard Street family with much reluctance. This whole project has been a herculean effort. In this Midwestern installment I have felt surrounded by feats of heroic scale. The architecture of Chicago and the Saint Patrick's Day celebration are enough to wow anyone, but also on this trip: I got to meet the brand new son of my old friends Garrett and Courtney Anderson (Garrett is a dancer with Hubbard), another couple from Hubbard (Pablo and Penny) gave birth DURING one of ...
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LINES on Tour - Kara Wilkes
Read MoreBeing from Milwaukee, I’ve been looking forward to returning to the Midwest for our week-long tour with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. We performed four nights in Chicago and have one performance in Madison yet to come. On Saturday, many of my dear friends and family were in the audience, and I’ll admit I got nervous. While performing Rasa, I took off like a bullet during a unison section with Courtney and Caroline - they kindly laughed about it when I later apologized for my nervous adrenaline. You never know when you are going to be cool as a cucumber ...
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LINES on Tour - Ashley Jackson
Read MoreJust to recap on what we have done since the start of the New Year, here are a few photos from Cleveland, Berkeley, and Tucson.
Cleveland, January 26:
Cleveland Ohio was our first show after our break. We performed Scheherazade and Resin. The theater presenter was extremely gracious. After the first show, she shared with us how touched the audience was and how we specifically inspired a young dancer to keeping dancing even if though he was the only boy in his class.
At the hotel, we came to find that performers from the Broadway show Priscilla Queen of the ...
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The Art of Discovery
Read MoreJust back from another successful Discovery Project in Tampa Bay, Florida, Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program faculty member Mauyra Kerr talks about her experience.
This was our fourth year doing the Tampa Bay Discovery Project, and on the first day we had a record 112 students sign up! The first few hours were insane, with LINES Ballet Training Program Director Karah Abiog on stage teaching about 70 students of drastically diverse ability and training, faculty member LeeWei Chao in a smaller studio with the remaining 40, and me running crazily back and forth between the two classes trying to ...
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A pas de deux with Alonzo King LINES Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Read MoreAugust marked the beginning of a unique collaboration between two artistic directors and their companies. Working together to create an original piece, Alonzo King LINES Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago decamped to southern California for a three-week residency at UC Irvine. It was an intense few weeks, with dancers attending all-day rehearsals, on the fly fittings, and instructing hundreds of advanced dance students from around the country who attended the intensive. Exhausted but exhilarated, LINES Ballet dancers returned to the studio in September to prepare for their Home Season and tour. But, throughout the fall and into the winter ...
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Sandrine Cassini talks about the art of Watching Waters
Read MoreThis past fall, students of the LINES BFA Program studied under the French born dancer and choreographer Sandrine Cassini. A veteran of such companies as the Paris Opéra Ballet, the Monte-Carlo Ballet, and Bejart Ballet Lausanne (where she performed a piece created on her by Alonzo King), Cassini spent several weeks setting work on the young artists of the BFA Program for their fall showcase. During her time in our studios, Cassini came to be loved by all of us for her generous spirit and considerable gifts.
We asked fellow dancer Paul Knobloch to interview Cassini on her experience.
Paul ...
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LINES on Tour - Courtney Henry
Read MoreArriving in Furth was the crest of this tidal wave of a tour. To remain in one city - for almost a whole week! - felt like Christmas came early! Stillness, growing familiarity, and the not so warm, but fuzzy feeling, that comes along with it began working its way back into my life even in the simplest pleasure of taking my own personal route to the theater. Of course it’s still not a walk through the Mission to BART, but this small sense of ownership came at the perfect time when I was certain I’d forgotten what it felt ...