NORA SMITH
Staff Writer
World-renowned contemporary dance company Alonzo King LINES Ballet will convene with Chautauqua’s School of Dance in a week of symbiotic artistic exploration, which kicks off with a performance by LINES at 7:30 p.m. tonight on the Amphitheater stage.
Before the performance, Chautauqua Dance Circle will host a pre-show conversation with LINES Ballet leadership at 6:15 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall for a pre-show conversation before the evening program.
“I like to encourage people to go to [the pre-show conversations] because it adds another layer of richness for your viewing experience if you’ve heard directly from members of the company about what you’re about to see,” Vice President of Performing and Visual Arts Laura Savia said.
Following the pre-show talk, the company will take the stage to present “LEGACY,” a meditation on lineage, memory and the unseen forces that shape who people are, featuring choreography by Alonzo King and an original score by Grammy Award-winning musician, bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding, according to the program description.
Tonight’s program will also feature Alonzo King’s “Ode to Alice Coltrane,” which The San Francisco Chronicle declared as “a conversation thrilling to behold” that “lifts us… to a higher bliss.”
Savia said she’s been working to bring LINES to Chautauqua since she assumed her role five years ago. In programming the Summer Season, she said, “This was the very first booking in any media, in any art form, that I booked for 2026.”
Because the company is known for its stunning technique, Savia said their visit is not only attractive to Chautauqua’s “very discerning ballet audience,” but also beneficial to the students enrolled in the School of Dance.
“The work is also incredibly vibrant on stage,” Savia said. “I’ve heard it said that seeing an Alonzo King LINES performance, you are seeing what it means to be human and [Alonzo King is] one of the most influential choreographic and company-building voices in dance today.”
In addition to getting a chance to see the company perform, School of Dance students will have opportunities to be in the classroom with LINES; the company will work closely with dancers and their technique and offer company classes in the studios.
Savia said everyone participating “gets fed and nourished by this experience,” and that she’s heard ballet companies get a lot out of coming to Chautauqua as well, especially given the opportunity to spend time with Director of Ballet Studies and Principal Repetiteur and “national treasure in the world of ballet” Patricia McBride.
In addition to LINES collaborating with the School of Dance, the company will also host a free community dance event from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. Friday in Odland Plaza, giving Chautauquans of all ages and experience levels an opportunity the chance to come out and dance.
Savia said tonight’s earlier start time makes for an opportunity to bring children to see the show.
“It creates an unforgettable first for that child, so this could be that,” Savia said.
In LINES’ full week of events, the company will take the Amp stage once more later this week, accompanied by the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. The second performance is scheduled to take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Amphitheater.
