![\"Adji](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Alonzo-King-LINES-Ballet-PHOTO2-by-Chris-Hardy-e1541662068592.jpg\")
<\/a>Adji Cissoko and Michael Montgomery. Photo by Chris Hardy, as is the big one at the top of this page.<\/p><\/div>\n
So I\u2019m thrilled that I got to see the absolutely amazing Alonzo King Lines Ballet last week-end! The dozen dancers in this company are stunning! Each one looks exactly like a dancer, (which is far from the norm<\/em> nowadays,) which was wonderful for me during the show\u2014I didn\u2019t have to spend even one moment wondering about their paths, as I often do when I watch other<\/em> dancers who don\u2019t look the part. (I know\u2014that is<\/em> just me. But I really appreciated that my mind wasn’t distracted from what I was seeing on the stage this time.)<\/p>\n This eighty-minute continuous program, with mystical music, (which, shockingly, did not bother me,) is entitled Sutra<\/em>, and the intriguing modern ballet choreography was just gorgeous.<\/p>\n I had no idea what was going on there, at all, and even with my 147IQ, the program notes may as well have been written in sanskrit. But it did not matter at all. You don\u2019t need to know the inspiration behind these movements to be wowed by them.<\/p>\n Ilaria Guerra. Photo by Chris Hardy.<\/p><\/div>\n I seriously could not look away for even one second. My mind was boggled by the fact that just one<\/em> choreographer, Alonzo King, could possibly think of so many different, interesting, unusual, creative, and clever movements that kept us constantly entertained for over an hour! Just when I think that I\u2019ve seen every single dance step ever created, he really did blow my mind with this show.<\/p>\n There was one very fascinating \u201cscene\u201d that I\u2019ve dubbed \u201cThe Ragman.\u201d Schmatas* were flying everywhere, in a furious display, the likes of which I have never seen portrayed onstage before. Actually, it\u2019s what Mr. X sees just about every night, when I\u2019m hurriedly trying to find just the right outfit to go out in. *[Note: \u201cSchmata\u201d is Yiddish for \u201crag.\u201d It\u2019s not a slam, at all–I just don\u2019t think what we saw on stage that night were actual articles of clothing. And here\u2019s a sidebar about why I love using that word here, anyway\u2014when I was a tiny child, I was seeing my ballet teacher in my first professional dance show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and noticed the not-beautiful wardrobe on the dancers, (because dance is such an under-funded art!) I loudly asked my mother, \u201cWhy are they wearing schmatas???\u201d She was so embarrassed, but it still made her laugh out loud. And she loved that story forever after, so I do, as well.]<\/p>\n Shuaib Elhassen. Photo by Chris Hardy.<\/p><\/div>\n But the costumes in Sutra<\/em> are definitely not in the schmata category. I loved the many simple-yet-very-well-thought-out (and mostly ecru) outfit changes. Again, I didn\u2019t understand them, but totally appreciated them.<\/p>\n Now a bit more on these dancers, who are all superior. You can see that they live<\/em> to dance.<\/p>\n And they all dance just like I<\/em> do\u2026in my dreams! (I\u2019m also envious that there was probably just two percent body fat on that entire stage!)<\/p>\n Adji Cissoko. Photo by Chris Hardy,<\/p><\/div>\n Everyone in this cast looked to have the same body type, with long sinewy limbs, which made all the beautiful movements even that much more stunning.<\/p>\n And, for perhaps the first time ever, I was not drawn to one<\/em> dancer over the others. I admired this entirely equally-talented group. Even more unusual is that not one of them annoyed me! I honestly don\u2019t think that\u2019s ever happened with any<\/em> type of production before!<\/p>\n I enjoyed just every second of Sutra<\/em>, but I was especially taken with the last five to fifteen minutes; they reminded me of the end of a fireworks show. It just all kept exploding at a rapid pace, and then softly wound down, so the audience would know that it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>