Witness a transformation of classical dance through bold and innovative movements that breaks the traditional ballet mold, when San Francisco’s Alonzo King LINES Ballet performs at the Moss Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 2.

Presented by the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, the performance will be held in the Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, located within the Moss Arts Center’s Street and Davis Performance Hall at 190 Alumni Mall. 

The contemporary ballet company creates works based on a diverse set of deeply rooted cultural traditions, infusing classical ballet with new expressive potential. The company’s artistic director, Alonzo King, understands ballet as a science – founded on universal, geometric principles of energy and evolution – and continues to develop a new language of movement from its classical forms and techniques. King’s visionary choreography is brought to life by the dancers, connecting audiences to a profound sense of shared humanity.

The evening will feature “Men's Quintet,” with music by Edgar Meyer; “Concerto for Two Violins,” set to music of Bach; and King's latest creation, “Biophony,” created in collaboration with famed bioacoustician Bernie Krause.

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Known for collaborations with The Doors, The Byrds, and Stevie Wonder, and work featured in dozens of feature films, Krause has traveled the world recording and archiving the sounds of creatures and environments large and small. He identified the concept of biophony based on the relationships of individual creatures to the total biological soundscape as each establishes a frequency within a given habitat. His contributions helped establish the foundation of a new bioacoustic discipline, soundscape ecology. 

Krause's renowned soundscapes inspired the choreography of “Biophony” and served as the core material for new music by composer Richard Blackford. On stage these soundscapes heighten the dancers’ senses amid calls of killer whales and tree frogs, as they seem to mingle with the mud, salt, and dust of their new sonic environments.

King’s work has been recognized for its impact on the nation’s cultural fabric by the dance world’s most prestigious institutions. Named a Master of Choreography by the Kennedy Center in 2005, King is the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts’ Choreographer’s Fellowship, Jacob’s Pillow Creativity Award, and U.S. Artist Award in Dance. In 2015 he received the prestigious Doris Duke Artist Award in celebration of his ongoing contributions to the advancement of contemporary dance.

During their visit, members of Alonzo King LINES Ballet will lead a choreography workshop at Radford University for Radford dance majors and Virginia Tech student dancers.

Tickets

Tickets for the performance are $25-55 for general public and $10 for students and youth 18 years old and under. Tickets can be purchased online; at the Moss Arts Center's box office, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday; or by calling 540-231-5300 during box office hours.

Parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street. Virginia Tech faculty and staff possessing a valid Virginia Tech parking permit can enter and exit the garage free of charge. Limited street parking is also available. Parking on Alumni Mall is free on weekdays after 5 p.m. and on weekends.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Kacy McAllister at 540-231-5300 or email kmcallis@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.

The Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech presents renowned artists from around the globe and from close to home, with a special focus on experiences that expand cultural awareness and deepen understanding. The Center for the Arts and the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, with which the Center for the Arts is uniquely partnered, are housed in the Moss Arts Center. The Moss Arts Center is a 147,000-square-foot facility that includes the Street and Davis Performance Hall and its 1,274-seat Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre; visual art galleries; the four-story, experimental venue the Cube; and research studios.

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