Get Alonzo King LINES Ballet dancer Courtney Henry's look.
Get Alonzo King LINES Ballet dancer Adji Cissoko's look.
Photo by RJ Muna, Courtesy LINES.
At six feet tall, Courtney Henry cuts an unforgettable silhouette across the stage. Diligent attention to detail and an ear for syncopation allow her to traverse memorably through the solos and duets of Alonzo King’s work. Articulating impossibly long limbs, attuned like the antennae of a creature in unknown territory, there seems no limit to this Alonzo King LINES Ballet dancer’s potential.
“Her stellar attributes and humility supply all the ingredients needed in a recipe for greatness.”
—Alonzo King
Company: Alonzo King LINES Ballet
Age: 25
Hometown: West Palm Beach, FL
Training: Palm Beach Ballet Center, The Ailey School, Ailey/Fordham BFA Program
Accolades: Youth America Grand Prix “Stars of Tomorrow” finalist, 2013 Princess Grace Award
Breakout moment: Henry celebrated her one-year anniversary with the company when LINES performed Scheherazade and Resin at the Joyce Theater in May 2012. Working through performance anxiety that she describes as “Mt. Everest–sized fears,” a recent breakup and a dance partner with the flu, Henry responded with abandon. Her lack of confidence dropped with her first entrance on to the stage, spurred on by an inner fire that surprised even her.
In King’s eyes: “Early in her training she decided that she was going to be herself. And she has remained true to that, not in indulgence but in the constant search for her unique contribution to the field.”
Challenges: Due to her long limbs, Henry did not receive many opportunities to work on partnering during her training. Though she is now fortunate to be in a tall environment at LINES, she says, “partnering is still an issue for me.” Letting her guard down has been difficult. “I have had so much personal growth, and now I am building a relationship with my colleague Robb Beresford. But I still have thoughts: Can he handle my limbs and weight?”
On the horizon: Henry is looking forward to an upcoming LINES collaboration with R&B vocalist Lisa Fischer. And she's excited about her future: "I'm sure I'll be making countless more mistakes, but I’m learning from the journey."
GöteborgsOperans Danskompani rehearsing Noetic. Photo by Tilo Stengel.
The Grass Is Always Greener…
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s newest work takes on a familiar theme: the need to understand the rules in order to break them. The Belgian choreographer’s Noetic, for Sweden’s GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, explores the human desire to find order, only to long for freedom once that’s achieved. Playing with this idea of building up and breaking down, sculptor Antony Gormley has designed a set with six large rings that support the dancers’ weight and connect to create new structures. Upping the piece’s European cool quotient even further, the dancers are decked out in costumes by Belgian menswear duo Les Hommes. Premieres March 8–April 12 at The Göteborg Opera. opera.se.
SYDNEY Baz Luhrmann’s movies owe a debt to Broadway spectacle—Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge! and, most recently, The Great Gatsby jump off the screen with electric colors and drama-fueled plots. But he entered new directing territory when reimagining his first major flick, Strictly Ballroom (1992), for the stage. The pasadoble-filled musical about a champion ballroom dancer premieres on March 25 at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. strictlyballroomthemusical.com.
Strictly Ballroom: The Musical. Photo courtesy AB Publicity.
NEW YORK CITY Distraction or enhancement? That’s the question about the LED light set for Alonzo King’s work Constellation. At times, electronic artist Jim Campbell provides a giant pegboard of lights; at others, the dancers cradle individual lights in their hands or feet. Either way, King’s oozy, stretchy choreography is never less than gorgeous, and the dancers of LINES Ballet are never less than compelling. A bonus: Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani will sing live. March 18–23 at The Joyce Theater. joyce.org.
Yujin Kim and Zachary Tang in King’s Constellation. Photo by Margo Moritz, Courtesy LINES.
SAN FRANCISCO Robert Moses typically uses his company to showcase his silky contemporary work. But the closing weekend of the Black Choreographers Festival is a rare chance to see Robert Moses’ Kin dancers take on a range of pieces by other artists. His Draft/By series at the ODC Theater includes choreography by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance alum Bliss Kohlmyer, hip-hop/modern dancer Dexandro Montalvo and former LINES Ballet maverick Gregory Dawson. But Moses loyalists need not worry—the artistic director will show a new work, too. March 6–8. bcfhereandnow.
Robert Moses’ Kin preparing for Draft/By. Photo courtesy Robert Moses.
PHILADELPHIA There is a flurry of flamenco festivals this month, but the Philadelphia Flamenco Festival, March 1–16, is a chance to see some of Spain’s most applauded alongside Philly’s own: Local all-female troupe Pasión Y Arte will host and perform; Spanish star Israel Galván, whose dances blend traditional flamenco with theatrical contemporary movement, will show new work; and his sister Pastora Galván will dance, as well. For the truly unconventional flamenco-goer, Sevillian postmodernist Rosario Toledo will stomp up a storm—in sneakers. pasionyarteflamenco.org.
Spain’s Israel Galván. Photo by Felix Vazquezla, Courtey Feischman Gerber & Associates.
NEW YORK CITY You wouldn’t expect the cool, contained formalist Beth Gill to do something huge and dramatic. But this time out, in a work commissioned by New York Live Arts, that’s what she’s aiming for. Her lighting designer, Thomas Dunn, is capable of giving an uncanny feeling of hot and dry, and her dancers succumb to glaring light and spatial vastness. If this is beginning to sound like being in a desert, you got it: The piece is called New Work for the Desert. March 20–22. newyorklivearts.org.
Gill’s dancers in residency for Desert at Florida State University. Photo by Chris Cameron, Courtesy Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography.
