Alonzo King LINES Ballet

Alonzo King LINES Ballet
Blue Shield of California Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
April 18th, 2026 (matinee)

It’s been a minute since I last saw LINES Ballet in performance. Schedules just weren’t aligned in the last few years, and so I’ve missed a number of their recent engagements. Luckily, things did line up this year and I was able to take in the company’s 2026 spring home season which paired the world premiere of Legacy with an encore of 2024’s Ode to Alice Coltrane. Even with the passage of some time, the program was everything I remember LINES to be. Collaboration was central with both works celebrating the marriage of music and movement. The company, including some newer faces, is as technically astonishing as ever. And there is an air of exquisite elegance. In Artistic Director Alonzo King’s choreography. In the dancers’ interpretation of that physical syntax. In the artistic dialog that sang from the stage. Such a delightful afternoon at the theater!

 Dancer Maël Amatoul and musician esperanza spalding in King's Legacy
Photo Chris Hardy

The debut of Legacy was the centerpiece of LINES’ 2026 bill, a sixteen-piece suite that brought the company into a living conversation with bassist, singer and composer esperanza spalding. Dancers in sparkling, glittery, sequined costumes entered and exited the space with graceful, expansive, sweeping limbs – arms and legs seemed to extend to infinity and beyond. Wearing a gorgeous flowing gown, spalding and her upright bass took the downstage right corner. A brilliant combination of recording, looping, live strings and vocals imbued the atmosphere as the dancers continued their statements of artistic strength and physical wonder. There were directional shifts. Lightning-fast motion. Undulating torsos and off-center balances. Deep, deep plié and wide standing postures. The aesthetic was undeniably Alonzo King choreography. Undeniably LINES Ballet.

As the thirty-minute work continued, there was a special chapter that stood out from the rest. Costumed (by Robert Rosenwasser) in white, feathery cropped pants, company artist Lorris Eichinger emerged from the wings, and from the start to the end of his variation, was completely locked in with spalding. Theirs was a moment for statements, answers, questions and exclamations and it made at least this viewer, yearn for more such connections. Legacy was clearly a live, performative conversation and for much of it, spalding seemed relatively alone in that endeavor. She certainly made a visible and earnest effort to connect with the dancers onstage and when it did happen (like with Eichinger), it was magical. 

Rounding out LINES Ballet’s 2026 spring season was 2024’s Ode to Alice Coltrane, a second meeting of score and physicality. Set to recordings from jazz musician and composer Alice Coltrane, the multi-episode work featured much of the signature LINES style. Huge leaps met with extended jazz lay-outs, as did fouetté turns with some truly phenomenal demi-pointe balances. 

Tatum Quiñónez and LINES company in King's Ode to Alice Coltrane
Photo Chris Hardy

The beginning and ending of Ode to Alice Coltrane were dramatic and deliciously charged. As the piece opened, dancers slowly crawled like cats in front of a large, transforming black scenery flat. Harp music, atmospheric haze and Rosenwasser’s filmy, gauzy costumes added a decidedly ethereal tone to the space. And the juxtaposition of that lightness with King’s grounded movement provided an interesting textural depth. Ode to Alice Coltrane’s final sections brought an updated interpretation of Dvořák’s New World Symphony to the table. Everything about those final moments was uplifting and otherworldly. Like a sumptuous journey of discovery. 

At nearly fifty minutes, Ode to Alice Coltrane felt on the lengthy side. For me, the middle sections seemed to abide in a fairly similar space – dynamic- and movement-wise. But lengthy or not, the choreography is beautiful, the dancers are stunning and the experience is one to remember.