San Francisco's Alonzo King LINES Ballet touches down at the Mahalia Jackson Theater on Saturday for its first New Orleans performance in 15 years, bringing 12 dancers, a live orchestra, and a program that spans Ravel fairy tales and the music of jazz icon Alice Coltrane. The one-night engagement begins at 7:30 p.m. and pairs the company with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
The New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) is presenting the one-night performance. Executive director Jenny Hamilton described the booking as an opportunity to bring King’s work back to the city and pair LINES Ballet with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, according to NOLA.com. OffBeat also reports that the engagement is a one-night-only presentation at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts.
NOBA describes the visit as LINES Ballet’s first New Orleans appearance in 15 years, according to nobadance.com. Founded by Alonzo King in San Francisco in 1982, the company has toured internationally, NOLA.com reports. Its work brings together ballet traditions and contemporary approaches through collaborations with artists and composers.
Ravel's Fairy Tales Set to Live Orchestra
The program begins with Ma mère l'Oye, or Mother Goose, performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra playing Ravel’s score live, NOLA.com reports. The suite comprises five pieces associated with fairy tales, including Tom Thumb, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast. LINES Ballet connects the work to King’s recent collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony and describes the dancers’ exploration of Ravel’s 1912 suite, according to the company’s website.
King has described the ballet as an exploration of the ideas beneath familiar fairy tales, NOLA.com reports. In his interpretation, awakening is an active human responsibility, and the story’s resolution points toward a state of fulfillment.
A Tribute to Alice Coltrane, Four Decades in the Making
The second work draws on the music of composer and musician Alice Coltrane, a longtime influence on King. NOLA.com reports that King choreographed his first work to her music for LINES Ballet’s inaugural performance in 1982. For the New Orleans program, he chose prerecorded selections with assistance from the Coltrane family, the outlet reports.
The connection also informs King’s 2024 suite Ode to Alice Coltrane, created as part of what nobadance.com calls The Year of Alice. The 40-minute work premiered Sept. 26, 2024, at the Blue Shield of California Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The San Francisco Chronicle praised the choreography as gripping and urgently beautiful. The Chronicle reported that Ravi Coltrane and his sister Michelle declared 2024-25 the Year of Alice, alongside activities planned around their father’s centennial year in 2026. Ravi Coltrane is a saxophonist and the son of Alice Coltrane and the late jazz musician John Coltrane.
A Choreographer Still in Demand After 40 Years
King has worked in dance for more than 40 years and has been commissioned by American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the Joffrey Ballet, NOLA.com reports. The Dance Heritage Coalition has named him an Irreplaceable Dance Treasure. King has explained the company’s name through the many forms a line can take, from fingerprints and bodies to constellations and geometry.
OffBeat notes that The Boston Globe has praised the company’s performances as a feast for the eyes. A BroadwayWorld announcement for NOBA’s 2010-11 season listed LINES Ballet performances for Jan. 21 and 22 at NOCCA’s Freda Lupin Memorial Hall.
Getting to the Mahalia Jackson Theater
The Mahalia Jackson Theater sits inside Louis Armstrong Park and offers mezzanine seating along with paid parking with an entrance from Basin Street, according to NOLA.com. Attendees can catch a pre-performance talk by a company member on the mezzanine before the show. Single tickets are on sale now at nobadance.com or through the NOBA Box Office at 504-522-0996, OffBeat reports, and NOLA.com adds that tickets can also be purchased by calling the box office at extension 201.
The Theater and NOBA’s Community Work
The Mahalia Jackson Theater describes itself as a performing-arts venue in Louis Armstrong Park and lists its capacity as 2,100, according to the theater. Performances are one part of NOBA’s work: the association says it serves more than 30,000 people annually through its Main Stage Series and education, health, and arts-healing programs. NOBA also says it has offered underserved families tuition-free access to dance since 1992, according to its mission and vision.
