Alonzo King LINES Ballet’s “Deep River”

I attended the exuberant dance program Deep River created by choreographer Alonzo King for his LINES Ballet dance company. The performance was held at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater in the Deutsche Bank Center building at 60th Street and Broadway in New York City.

The massive performance center occupies an unusual 5th floor space that is beautifully laid out in a semi-circular format with comfortable seating, all with full views of the stage. The acoustics were quite good, but I felt the lighting by Jim Fench was less than inspired and could have provided this extraordinary cast with better exposure.

The program consists of a series of dances set to a variety of musical forms from percussion instrumentals, African spirituals, and the Jewish prayer for the dead set to Maurice Ravel’s music and sung by composer/lyricist Lisa Fischer, to original compositions by Ms. Fischer and composer/pianist Jason Moran.

As a choreographer, Alonzo King’s mission, not unlike his mentor Alvin Ailey (American Dance Theater), is to reset the dimensions of movement, line, and form that have traditionally constrained dancers, giving free rein to creative expression.

King has converted the graceful movements of formalized training and organized ballet forms into interpretive movements that employ sharp angles and extensions that were at one time considered unacceptable or even ugly. What emerges is a company of extraordinary creativity, giving rein to the fullest degree of artistry.

When premier ballerina Adji Cissoko entered the stage for her solo, “Where is There Love?,” my mind raced back half a century in remembrance. Ms. Cissoko’s lithe line, her grace through joy, fluidity of movement, and confidence were hallmarks of George Balanchine’s (New York City Ballet) requirement for his perfect ballerina. Her three couple dances, “Transition,” “Rivers of Memory,” and “Epilogue Pas,” partnered by superb dancer Shuaib Elhassan, were poetry in motion. En pointe, she soars and extends like an avatar beyond reality.

The artistry of all the dancers was outstanding. The complexity of King’s ensemble groupings gave full range to each dancer to move independently but still fulfill their function in the overall pattern.

The ultimate crowd-pleaser was “Laughing Pas” performed by Madeline DeVries and Lorris Eichinger. The soundtrack was laughter, which was echoed by the dancers as they performed a series of amusing movements and interactions. As the piece progressed, the audience was drawn into the fun, and by the end, the entire audience was laughing out loud and applauding.

My one caveat was the costumes by Robert Rosenwasser. The women were dressed in what reminded me of bathing suits from the 1950s, while the men were either bare-chested with skirts below the knees or little more than bathing suit trunks again styled from the 1950s. There was also a change into pants for one dancer, but there was no variety in shape or color. The only costume change for the women was the addition of pointe shoes on a few of them.

The dancers’ beautiful bodies could have been adorned in costumes that highlighted their athleticism while exposing flesh only when the dance required it, such as in Babatunji Johnson’s solo performance in “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

The passionate vocalization by Lisa Fischer accompanied Mr. Johnson’s strong performance of majestic athleticism, alternating with quick moves. It was a tour de force.

All in all, the 65-minute performance without intermission was well-received by the appreciative audience, and I look forward to seeing more of Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet programs.