# Alonzo King LINES Ballet at YBCA Theater, April 8, 2015

[Alonzo King LINES Ballet](https://www.linesballet.org/)  
2015-04-08  
[Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater](http://ybca.org/)  
[701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=701+Mission+Street,+San+Francisco,+CA&hl=en)  
8:00 PM, Wednesday, April 8, 2015

[[2015-04-06|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2015|Up to the 2015 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2015#April_events|Up to the 2015 event list!]] ☸  [[2015-04-09-1|On to the next event!]]

## Set One

[7:38 PM lights down, announcements]

### Handel: Trio Sonata, Op. 2, No. 1 in B minor, Movement IV

01. [7:40 PM] Allegro

#### Performers

* Katherine Heater: harpsichord;
* Noah Strick: violin;
* Tanya Tomkins: cello;
* Lisa Weiss: violin.

### Bach: Concerto for Two Violins

Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto for Two Violins, Strings and Continuo in D minor, BWV 1043 (ca. 1723)

01. [7:42 PM] Vivace
02. [7:46 PM] Largo ma non tanto
03. [7:53 PM] Allegro  
[set ends 7:58 PM; applause and bows until 8:00 PM when the lights go up for intermission]

#### Performers

* David Daniel Bowes: viola;
* Maria Caswell: violin;
* Katherine Heater: harpsichord;
* Maxine Nemerovski: violin;
* Noah Strick: violin;
* Tanya Tomkins: cello;
* Lisa Weiss: violin.

#### Production Credits

* Alonzo King: choreography (2013);
* Axel Morgenthaler: lighting design;
* Robert Rosenwasser: costumes.

## Set Two: Biophony

[8:21 PM lights down]

**Biophony** (World Premiere)

01. [8:25 PM] Consilence
02. [8:27 PM] Tempestas
03. [8:31 PM] Mare Nostrum
04. [8:34 PM] Winds Across the Tundra
05. [8:40 PM] Still Life at the Equator
06. [8:43 PM] Elephant Stories
07. [8:47 PM] The Frog Who Desired Moonlight
08. [8:52 PM] A Gift of Bees
09. [8:56 PM] Nunaniq  
[show ends 9:00 PM; applause and bows until 9:02 PM]  
   
**Post-show Q&A Session with Alonzo & Bernie**
10. [9:04 PM] [yappin']  
[session ends 9:37 PM]


## Dancers

* Babatunji
* Robb Beresford
* Adji Cissoko
* Madeline Devries
* Shuaib Elhassan
* Courtney Henry
* Yujin Kim
* Michael Montgomery
* Laura O'Malley
* Jeffrey Van Sciver
* Kara Wilkes 
 
* William Couture (guest artist)

#### Production Credits

* Alonzo King: choreography;
* Bernie Krause and Richard Blackford: sound design & music;
* Axel Morgenthaler: lighting design;
* Robert Rosenwasser: set design.

## Notes

I guess I was kinda confused about the arrangement of the pieces tonight, because it took me by surprise when we got to the set break...I'd misinterpreted the program and thought they were opening the evening with the entire Handel work instead of single section. Anyways, the dancing was great, but the costumes were a bit on the boring and less than flattering side. Minimalist to an extreme, and in the case of the darker ones, hard to make out the dancers bodies when the lights were dim. Fading eyesight on my part? Maybe! Guess I should have sprung some extra cash to fit myself in downstairs for a better view.

The second set was interesting, but I had a hard time connecting with the dancing. Maybe because much of their motion seemed to me to be a bit contrived. I imagine Alonzo telling his corps: "move, but abandon your human ways -- listen to the sound and respond to the essential spirit that it expresses" .... and we get something quite different from regular dance. Not bad, but it was strange enough that it didn't really engage and hold my attention throughout the forty minutes duration of Bernie's soundtrack.

Randy McMullen posted a favorable [microreview](http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/general-news/20150407/dance-take-a-walk-on-the-wild-side) for the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Allan Ulrich posted a much longer [piece](http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Dance-Lines-Ballet-unveils-riveting-work-with-6179790.php) on SFGate, which includes some very nice pictures by Quinn Wharton.

{{tag>music dance Alonzo_King Alonzo_King_LINES_Ballet YBCA_Theater Babatunji Robb_Beresford Adji_Cissoko Madeline_Devries Shuaib_Elhassan Courtney_Henry Yujin_Kim Michael_Montgomery Laura_O'Malley Jeffrey_Van_Sciver Kara_Wilkes William_Couture David_Daniel_Bowes Maria_Caswell Katherine_Heater Maxine_Nemerovski Noah_Strick Tanya_Tomkins Lisa_Weiss Bernie_Krause Richard_Blackford Axel_Morgenthaler Robert_Rosenwasser}}

[[2015-04-06|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2015|Up to the 2015 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2015#April_events|Up to the 2015 event list!]] ☸  [[2015-04-09-1|On to the next event!]]