Sensual and sensational, the dancers of Alonzo King’s LINES Contemporary Ballet   stretch and ooze through his inventive choreography. King brings out different aspects of contemporary ballet with every music choice he makes. In this concert, we’ll hear music by jazz composer Pharoah Sanders, Japanese-American Miya Masaoka and, for the new work, new music composers John Oswald, Michael Jon Fink, and Peter Garland.

Meredith Webster and David Harvey. Homepage photo of Caroline Rocher, photos by RJ Muna

Meredith Webster

Two of LINES’ most stunning dancers are stepping down after this season: Caroline Rocher, who was a 2001 “25 to Watch” in Dance Magazine; and Meredith Webster, who will serve as ballet master. With no shortage of star power, the LINES gala on May 21 is chaired by Linda Ronstadt. Anyone who’s met Alonzo King knows he’s a good talker, winding his way from frappés to philosophy. This season gives a chance to hear him expound on May 22. And on May 23 King will sign copies of LINES’ coffee table photo book, which reflects the striking sense of design that King, along with costume designer Robert Rosenwasser, has made a part of his aesthetic since the beginning. May 21–25, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA. Click here for tickets or here.

While many Americans choreographers are bee-lining it to collaborate with international composers, Donald Byrd, artistic director of Seattle’s Spectrum Dance Theater, is placing his bets on Americans. It seems preposterous, but he is choreographing seven new works for a six-day festival—exactly the number of ballets that Balanchine made for the famous Stravinsky festival in 1972. From George Gershwin to John Zorn, Byrd is determined to satisfy his American itch.

Spectrum Dance Theater in Donald Byrd’s LOVE (2012), photo by Nate Watters

The title of the festival is promising: “Rambunctious: A Festival of American Composers and Dance.” That adjective describes perfectly his premiere for Dance Theatre of Harlem last season. I was taken by—rather grabbed by—his rambunctious Contested Space,  which I called “relentlessly inventive” in this posting. The first program of Rambunctious, May 15–17, includes music by Gershwin, Copland, and Persichetti, at Freemont Abbey Arts Center. For the second program, May 22–24 at Washington Hall, the composers are Wuorinen, John Zorn, and Don Krishnaswami. All the music will be played live by Seattle’s own chamber music group Simple Measures, including an overture to each performance by Charles Ives. For more info, click here. And to catch up on the voice of Donald Byrd, see his Choreography in Focus.

What happens when a funny guy gets serious? For dancer/actor/writer David Neumann, the recent deaths of both his parents have cast a shadow over his life and his current interdisciplinary work-in-process, I Understand Everything Better. Also on the program are more upbeat solos from the past, like Tough the Tough (Redux) and You Are In Control. The truth is, there was always something serious and searching in Neumann’s solos. Under the bumbling, staggering Everyman there was a thread of existential questioning, expressed in both movement and words. A few years ago, Neumann was brilliant in the Beckett program he shared with Baryshnikov, revealing an affinity for that absurdist/serious playwright. Before that, he brought a sharply quizzical quality to the roles he played in works by Big Dance Theater and Jane Comfort and Company.

Daivd Neumann, photo by Cherylynn Tsushima. Photo on homepage by Maria Baranova

This evening is co-presented by Jacob’s Pillow, which has presented Neumann before with great success.  April 26 at MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets, call 413.662.2111 or click here. 

The final work I Understand Everything Better comes to American Dance Institute in Rockville, MD in March, 2015 and Abrons Arts Center in NYC April, 2015.

Choreographers may gravitate toward the coasts, but Chicago can claim some excellent dance makers too—and Autumn Eckman is one of them. She’s had a ton of commissions in the Midwest and has branched out to Maine, California, and Florida. But her home company is Giordano, for which she serves as assistant artistic director and resident choreographer. Her piece JOLT, which she worked on with artistic director Nan Giordano, races through a crazed morning routine to jolt you awake with wit, humor, and imaginative use of props. It’s performed with the blazing energy of the Giordano dancers. But she’s also capable of more lyrical, sweeping choreography, and her new Mist, with live music by Eric Whitacre’s choral chamber group Bella Voce, is bound to be slightly more romantic. March 28–29 at the Harris Theater. Click here for info and here for tickets.

Above: “JOLT”
On previous page: “Sabroso”, with Ashley Rockwood & Sean Rozanski, choreography by Del Dominquez & Laura Flores, Photos by Gorman Cook