Ah, to truly dance through life…

A version of this post has been published on Facebook.

I fell in love with “contemporary ballet” when I first saw a performance by Alonzo King’s LINES Contemporary Ballet many years ago in San Francisco. And I especially fell in love with LINES, which has dropped the word “contemporary” from their name, though I’ve never seen them perform anything “classical.” They just never disappoint. Indeed, they inspire, move, challenge, excite, awe, and all sorts of other fantastic things!

Dance has mattered much to me for years, beginning with learning how to dance from watching American Bandstand on TV. When I was a student teacher at Ames High School, I’d occasionally go sit in the back of the auditorium between classes watching students participate in the school’s excellent dance program while wishing I had had access to such a program when I was a high school student. Many years later, a large photo of Mikhail Baryshnikov adorned my bedroom wall. And the best Christmas present I ever received was a pair of ballet slippers from my then wife, a gift given to me, she said, because I dance through life; wow!

I reconnected with LINES in November when I attended a performance by students in the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA program at Dominican University in San Rafael. Later last month, I attended an amazing contemporary dance salon in San Francisco organized by RAWdance (as I described in a prior FB post). Then back to LINES two weeks ago with an even more amazing performance — the winter showcase of students in the LINES 2-year intensive training program for pre-professional dancers. What made these wonderful performances extra special was their intimacy; for the latter two performances, I was right there on the level with and within reach of the dancers (as suggested by the photo from the winter showcase). Such proximity to the orchestra and chorus (see other photo) at the Sing It Yourself Messiah at the Southern Pacific Brewing Company this past Sunday made that experience extra special as well; by the way, I’ve always considered Handel’s Messiah to be dance music! And along with the close proximity at these performances: conversations with the artists. Yum! True immersion. And real rather than provided via VR goggles. Yum!

Ah, to truly dance through life…