25th Anniversary
Company Milestones
Information on Zakir Hussain
Baroque Description

Alonzo King's LINES Ballet is pleased to announce it is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in November 2007. The internationally acclaimed San Francisco-based dance company will highlight 25 years of creativity, innovation and collaboration with an anniversary season and two weeks of performances at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts featuring two world premiere ballets.

In celebration of this momentous occasion, collaborator and world-renowned tabla master Zakir Hussain will create an original musical score and play live at every performance. This is Hussain's third collaboration with Alonzo King, following Who Dressed You Like A Foreigner in 1998 and Following the Subtle Current Upstream, which premiered in 2000 in the repertory of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and was brought into LINES Ballet's repertory in 2006.

In addition to Hussain's percussive score, a selection of chamber musicians from the award-winning Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra will also perform live Baroque music in the second world premiere work. The 25th Anniversary season will be kicked off with a high-profile 25th Anniversary Gala on Nov. 2, which will include an international feast, auction, performance and post-performance champagne & dessert reception.

"LINES Ballet has participated in countless collaborations with artists from many different cultures and artistic mediums over the past two and a half decades," said LINES Ballet's Artistic Director Alonzo King. "To celebrate our 25th Anniversary with the masterful Zakir Hussain and legendary Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra is a true honor for all of us."

"In our 25th year, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, the LINES Ballet School, the BFA program and the San Francisco Dance Center are stronger than ever and growing steadily," said LINES Ballet's Executive Director Ann Marie Nemanich. "I look forward to strengthening the company's presence locally, nationally and internationally while building our education program even further."

Founded in 1982 and currently under the leadership of Executive Director Ann Marie Nemanich, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet is an international dance company based in San Francisco that performs unique contemporary ballets created by Alonzo King.

Collaborating with noted composers, musicians and visual artists, Alonzo King creates original works that stretch and renew the traditions of western dance. Both Alonzo King and the LINES Ballet dancers have been recognized for their extraordinary vision; King was recently honored with the US Artists Fellowship, given to the 50 finest artists from all disciplines currently creating work in America. He has also been the recipient of the NEA Choreographer's Fellowship, the Irvine Dance Fellowship and five Isadora Duncan awards.

King has created works that have entered the repertories of companies throughout the world, including the Royal Swedish Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Hong Kong Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre and Washington Ballet. He has worked extensively in opera, television and film and has choreographed works for prima ballerina Natalia Makarova and film star Patrick Swayze. Renowned for his skill as a teacher, King has been the guest ballet master for National Ballet of Canada, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, San Francisco Ballet, Ballet Rambert, Ballet West and others.

LINES Ballet has collaborated with legendary jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, India's national treasure Zakir Hussain, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock Bernice Johnson Reagon, actor Danny Glover, Japanese classical composer Somei Satoh, celebrated Polish composer Pavel Syzmanski and Nubian oud master Hamza El Din. One of the highlights of LINES Ballet's performing career was bringing sixteen musicians and dancers from the Lobaye Forest of Central African Republic --- the BaAka --- for the People of the Forest project. Most recently the company also collaborated with the Shaolin monks of China in a critically-acclaimed and widely popular run at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

LINES BALLET SCHOOL & THE SAN FRANCISCO DANCE CENTER
The vision of LINES Ballet goes beyond the internationally-acclaimed dance company - LINES Ballet also encompasses a school and the San Francisco Dance Center. Home to Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, The San Francisco Dance Center has been offering a broad range of inspiring classes to dancers since 1989; five years ago, the LINES Ballet School was established in order to develop the potential of young dancers. In 2006, LINES Ballet and the Dominican University of California jointly launched the West Coast's first BFA program in dance.

CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE Alonzo King's LINES Ballet 25TH ANNIVERSARY HOME SEASON
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater
700 Howard Street, San Francisco
Tickets: $25-$65
Tickets & Information: www.ybca.org, 415.978.ARTS (2787)
For more information visit the LINES Ballet website at www.linesballet.org

HOME SEASON DATES & TIMES
Friday, Nov 2, 9pm (Gala Performance)
Saturday, Nov 3, 8pm
Sunday, Nov 4, 7pm
Wednesday, Nov 7, 8pm
Thursday, Nov 8, 8pm
Friday, Nov 9, 8pm
Saturday, Nov 10, 8pm
Sunday, Nov 11, 3pm

25TH ANNIVERSARY GALA
International feast and exciting auction
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum and Theater
November 2, 2007
6:30pm to 11:30pm
Gala tickets: $300
Performance and champagne reception only tickets: $85
Experience fine California wines and foods from all over the world, representing LINES Ballet's collaborations with artists from around the globe. This scrumptious dinner catered by McCall's will be followed by a live auction featuring fabulous and unique items, all in support of LINES Ballet's programs. The centerpiece of the Gala is the opening night performance of our Fall Home Season. Following the performance, guests will enjoy music, champagne and desserts by McCall's into the night in the Yerba Buena Forum.

Media Contacts:
Mona Baroudi Publicist
Email Mona Baroudi
415.615.2735