Alonzo King Lines | SCHEHERAZADE

Choreography: Alonzo King | Music: Zakir Hussain from Rimsky-Korsakov | Lighting Design: Axel Morgenthaler | Set Design: Robert Rosenwasser | Costume Design: Colleen Quen, Robert Rosenwasser | Production Design: Robert Rosenwasser, Axel Morgenthaler, G. Chris Griffin | Still photography: RJ Muna |

Aerial power for oriental parable.

When Alonzo King worked on the choreography of the 42-minute Scheherazade dance piece, his intention was not to recreate the narrative of the ancient tale, but to capture the symbolic and universal meaning. “The work that we do at LINES is primarily the reduction of ideas to their essence, not a replication, but a distillation of meaning through symbol and form,” he says. “The folk memory is a sacred art in which the wisdom of a time gone by is preserved,” says King.

Alonzo teaches his dancers to follow their intuition; to be honest, generous and fearless. “The job of the artist,” he says, “is to communicate clearly. The dancer lives in the realm of thought ideas before they become spoken words.”

-Who is that fascinating beautiful woman, who weaves 1,001 night tales to save her life, to save humanity, to end the vicious cycle of abuse and violence? “Scheherazade is showing us the brilliant science,” adds King. “To root out something you must bring in its opposite. Hatred cannot be healed by hatred. Hatred is cured by love, restlessness by Peace, fear by courage, weakness by strength.”

Thirteen dancers set on a fiery flair, forming spatial patterns. Their chocolate-vanilla swirls paint a visual spool of motion. The opening scene launches with four women assembled ritually in a square, lead by Ashley Jackson’s euphoric solo. Corey Scott-Gilbert expands into his sleek-sculptured spine-stretching number and Ricardo Zayas, a meteoric ball of energy, flies through mid-air and dives down softly into the arms of his fellow men. The transformation of the Sultan by Scheherazade is manifested in a ten-minute flaming pas de deux.

Zakir Hussain, tabla master and long-time Lines collaborator, created the score, inspired by Rimsky-Korsakov. Alongside western instruments, Zakir introduces ancient Persian instruments, such as duduk (one of the oldest double reed instruments, dates back some 3,000 + years), ney (long end-blown flute, as ancient as the pyramids), daf, daira and tombak (percussion). The music produced at the theater pit echoes Eastern seducing rhythms. The finale carries beats all the way from 680 AD, awakening the sleepy spirit of compassion and beauty.