In the Glowing Warmth, a Prayer

Courtesy of Alonzo King LINES Ballet

Upon a broad expanse of sand-like hue, the dancers of Alonzo King LINES Ballet find a sacred space. Deep River, which premiered in 2022 as part of LINES’ 40th anniversary season, comes to us in pieces, in fragments and vignettes that cobble together like a quilt whose maker could have kept on sewing scraps endlessly. It’s a piece that reflects the circumstances of its creation as much as it does global human experiences of connection. Deep River is the result of the company working in unconventional spaces and circumstances during the pandemic, and this can be seen in the use of space: the boundless width of the stage, a scene where dancers move across a revealed backspace as if dancing through a picture frame, and entrances and exits that seem to have been born outside the firm walls of a studio. 

Whether it be in solo devotion, such as Babatunji’s soulful and powerful weaving of a prayer to the resounding lyrics of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, or the aching, primal gesture of a griever carrying a lifeless body through the anguished dim light, or loose flung shapes echoing through bodies, Deep River holds glimmers of profound strength. It is these moments of individuals catching the light that speak the loudest, for the brief moments of unity often fail to find collective unison. At times they resist the idea completely, such as when the stage fills with bodies, yet each one finds a different path through the music. There’s something poetic in the image of each body reflecting back the tune in their own way, but when the piece calls for the voice of one, that individuality refuses to fade. Perhaps that is just the effect of a company as small as this, who build this hour long work with such unrelenting drive that a curtain call of only ten dancers seemed impossible. Their distinct voices glow even through the bounds of King's vision, and through the confines of unison as well.

The blunt edges of each section leave us wondering how they fit together. From somber prayer, to two dancers playfully pushing and shoving as laughter fills the air, to harsh abrasive clapping that brings us to a place of ecstatic velocity, the cohesive thread through each vignette is the strength and eloquence of the dancers. Alonzo King LINES Ballet has a unique skill set of quick, naturalistic movement that transcends, or rather, finds fertile ground in the valley between classical and contemporary vocabularies. What they have is their own. In guttural, fluid angularity they unfurl, coiling, stretching towards the heavens, or pulled by invisible strings in their defiance of gravity and long-limbed reach for balance.

With sharp staccato, unexpected shapes, and untraditional aspects Deep River reaches towards the echoes of dance theater. Such as when the dancers collectively shake their heads no and nod their heads yes with unrestrained conviction, or when two dancers face each other with brewing force and one leaps upon the other in a metaphoric attack, not just once, but three times, so that by the end we’re not quite sure what we should be interpreting. There’s a repeated pointing of a shaking finger towards the heavens, and an exit that exists of frog jump-like planks. And yet you can see that even in their most contemporary, experimental voices, their classical training informs and shapes every breath. At times it feels as if ballet itself is far out of reach, hiding there in the dark corners, but one by one, pointe shoes appear as the piece nears its end, and slowly King etches the dancers closer to a final pas de deux. 

Deep River may be sixty-five minutes long, but it was in these final moments that its deep-rooted, authentic beauty became apparent. Asji Cissoko and Shuaib Elhassan form a breathtaking sight together, finding unyielding balance and precision through the unexpected edges, turned-in extensions, and skyscraping heights. Whatever noise came before, on Thursday night we tumbled into their extraordinary presence, and for one brief moment, it felt like we might just stay there, forever enraptured by their forms catching the light.

Deep River declares that movement, in all its brilliant, challenging, relentlessly painful and evocative nature, even when it unsettles expectations or leaves us questioning, is a beautiful thing to behold.