{"id":2447336,"date":"2019-08-08T16:40:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T22:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/alonzo-king-lines-ballet-brings-handel-and-common-ground-to-aspen\/"},"modified":"2019-08-08T16:40:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T22:40:00","slug":"alonzo-king-lines-ballet-brings-handel-and-common-ground-to-aspen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/alonzo-king-lines-ballet-brings-handel-and-common-ground-to-aspen\/","title":{"rendered":"Alonzo King LINES Ballet brings \u201cHandel\u201d and \u201cCommon Ground\u201d to Aspen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Alonzo King, seen here performing in “Handel,” will be in Aspen this weekend to perform that as well as “Common Ground” with his ballet company.<\/strong>
Courtesy of Alonzo King LINES Ballet<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Esteemed dancer and choreographer Alonzo King said he\u2019s always amazed at the beauty of Colorado and Aspen, and he is reminded of it each time he gets over the Rocky Mountains.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlying from Denver to Aspen is humbling because you see how beautiful the land is when it\u2019s left undeveloped,\u201d he said during a recent phone interview. \u201cIt makes you think of pristine times and what it must have been like when bison buffalo roamed in the millions before they were destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

King returns to Aspen with his company for a one-night-only performance presented by the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. On Saturday, Alonzo King LINES Ballet appears at the Aspen District Theatre to perform two of their works: \u201cHandel\u201d and \u201cCommon Ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a company of truth-seekers,\u201d King said. \u201cOur goal and our aim are to remind people of the spirit that animates our bodies, the spirit that animates all creation. I think that\u2019s the real message in everything \u2014 we are not, as many describe, weak whining mortals. We are immortal and we are capable of unlimited possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Georgia and now based in San Francisco, King is the son of two civil rights activists. He grew up with two very influential people in his life who were willing to die for what they believed in.<\/p>\n

King explains that it was inspiring and intimidating to grow up in an environment like this.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are surrounded by people who, what comes out of their mouth and out of their being is no contradiction,\u201d King said. \u201cThe way that they live and the way that they speak are in harmony. When they give their word, they give it under percentage, but they don\u2019t fail on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With only 12-14 members in his 36-year-old company, the audition process can be very competitive. When choosing the members of his company, King searches for individuals with enthusiasm. The dancers obviously need to have the proper technique and stamina, but that is not what\u2019s most important.<\/p>\n

If the dancer is not excited, inspired and filled with spirit, King will keep looking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am drawn to people who are kind, people who have technique under their belt and people who want to continue to grow,\u201d King said. \u201cPeople who look at the art-making as a service. They\u2019re more concerned about what they\u2019re giving than what they\u2019re getting.\u201d<\/p>\n

King notes that it\u2019s very rare to hire someone just from the audition alone \u2014 the company needs to spend time working with that person for an extended period. For it to be fair, they must understand how intense the company works. The bottom line is character \u2014 King is looking for character.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs in anyone who\u2019s looking to work and to create a relationship with someone, I\u2019m looking for the quality of their character. Is there loyalty, is there a big vision, is there sincerity?\u201d King said. \u201cDancing is an incredible thing to see. It\u2019s human traits, it\u2019s the pinnacle of human qualities that you\u2019re looking for. People who are tapped into creativity, or they want to be, are fun to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

If King were to give advice to an aspiring ballet dancer, he would tell them that their love needs to be greater than their fear \u2014 or else it doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

Understanding where artists pull their inspiration from and learning what inspires them, can often offer fascinating insight into the art that they produce.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already surrounded by the most eternal light, and we have to tap into that light for inspiration,\u201d King said. \u201cWe have to realize that we are not the doers. If we\u2019re going to be creating, we want to tune in with the Creator. That is where the inspiration comes from.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said what is interest about art-making is going through that process of evolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go from me to we, to oneness,\u201d King said. \u201cThe whole point of the evolutionary process is for the individual to melt into the universal. That means that if you\u2019re going to become something, the individual must die. The ego must die.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alonzo King, seen here performing in “Handel,” will be in Aspen this weekend to perform that as well as “Common Ground” with his ballet company.Courtesy of Alonzo King LINES Ballet Esteemed dancer and choreographer Alonzo King said he\u2019s always amazed at the beauty of Colorado and Aspen, and he is reminded of it each time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2447336","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-24 17:10:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}