The Music Center Announces Additional Tickets For Alonzo King LINES Ballet

In celebrating the reopening of Los Angeles and the easing of public health restrictions, The Music Center has expanded the footprint for its outdoor performance series called Dance at Dusk, part of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, doubling the current seating capacity for guests on its Jerry Moss Plaza.

New tickets for pods of four seats for the Alonzo King LINES Ballet performances occurring July 14-18, 2021, will go on sale on Thursday, July 1, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.; each performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sales of on-site food and beverages will now be offered to ticketed guests prior to and following these performances. Each program will run approximately one hour and will be presented without intermission.

"As a performing arts center, we struggled with not having our stages alive and our theatres filled with audiences over the last 15 months, so we're just thrilled to welcome back guests and visitors safely to The Music Center," said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO, The Music Center. "We were planning and re-configuring plans for Dance at Dusk during the height of the pandemic, but always remained confident that Angelenos would rally to overcome the virus. With numbers at a low point and restrictions lifted, we can now provide additional seating to this sold-out presentation, allowing even more Angelenos to witness the thrill and beauty of live dance and celebrate a sense of normalcy in the safest possible way."

Ticket prices for The Music Center's Dance at Dusk outdoor series are tiered per experience and sold as a pod of four tickets only. Tickets for Jerry Moss Plaza seating range from $150 (rear section) per pod to $225 (front section) per pod, depending on the day of the week. To purchase ticket pods, starting July 1, 2021, and for information, call (213) 972-0711 or visit musiccenter.org. Advance sales only; tickets will not be available for purchase on-site. *Programs and artists subject to change.

Thirty-nine years of outstanding, multi-disciplinary collaborations for the stage place Alonzo King LINES Ballet at the forefront of artistic innovation in ballet. Guided by the unique artistic vision of Alonzo King, LINES Ballet has collaborated with noted composers, musicians and visual artists from around the world to create performances that alter the way we look at ballet today. The company's unique artistic vision adheres to the classical form-the linear, mathematical and geometrical principles that are deeply rooted in the pre-existing East-West continuum-while investigating the human spirit and breaking down barriers. LINES Ballet returns to The Music Center for the Dance at Dusk series after an eight-year absence from Music Center stages, performing a mixed program that will feature the full company. Choreographed by King in 2019 with music composed by Jazz composer and pianist Jason Moran, The Personal Element is a demanding 20-minute piece that shows off the company's technical prowess. The performances also include the excerpt "Over My Head" from Writing Ground; an excerpt from The Radius of Convergence; the excerpt "Pie Jesu" from Grace; an excerpt from Rasa; and conclude with Epilogue Pas.

The evening programs also feature two West Coast premieres. Special guest Tiler Peck, a Southern California native and New York City Ballet (NYCB) principal dancer, joins LINES Ballet for Child of Sky and Earth, a new solo work created specifically for her by King. The two artists worked together during the summer of 2020 to develop the piece to music by American singer-songwriter Gregory Porter. Rising star Roman Mejia will join Peck in Swift Arrow. The new pas de deux, choreographed by King for the two NYCB colleagues, features additional music by Moran.

The Music Center's presentation of Alonzo King LINES Ballet will offer the public a number of experiences in which they can engage with the trailblazing contemporary ballet company. To kick off the residency, The Music Center will host a new INSIDE LOOK: A Conversation with Alonzo King and Maurine Knighton on Sunday, July 11, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. PT. The online conversation between company founder Alonzo King and Maurine Knighton, the program director for Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, one of the preeminent supporters of contemporary dance in the U.S., will discuss King's creative process and artistic concerns, and how his family background influenced his life in dance. Fans can register in advance to receive the Zoom webinar link at http://www.musiccenter.org/linespanel.

The Sunday evening performance (July 18) will be livestreamed FREE for the public at musiccenter.org. Fans are encouraged to register in advance to receive reminders and a link to the performance. To expand opportunities for the public to enjoy the LINES performance in an outdoor setting, The Music Center has also partnered with Lula Washington Dance Theatre to simulcast the Sunday night program live at their Crenshaw/Leimert Park-based dance school (3773 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016). Lula Washington Dance Theater will host a brief introduction and musical presentation at 7:00 p.m. with the simulcast showing at 7:30 p.m. Attendance is free, but donations are welcomed. Seating priority goes to those who pre-register. Guests can register and reserve seating by emailing school.lwdt@gmail.org or by calling the dance studio at 323-292-5852. For more information about Lula Washington Dance Theatre, please visit lulawashington.org.

As part of this dance residency, The Music Center will continue celebrating art as social engagement with the return of The Music Center's Body Language. The innovative digital experience is a creation of MAP Design Lab, in collaboration with The Music Center, and will change each evening, creating a one-of-a-kind, interactive opportunity. Via question prompts, the public will contribute their thoughts about dance and how live performances inspire and move them. This interactive interplay will be showcased on the LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center both prior to and after the performances, and during the Sunday night free livestream. Collectively, the words shared will emerge into an augmented reality object that can be downloaded via a QR code or from musiccenter.org, as a digital memento of the evening. The Music Center's Body Language reestablishes the unspoken connection and energy occurring among those gathered for a live performance that was sorely missed during the pandemic.

While in Los Angeles, Alonzo King LINES Ballet will hold in-person auditions for dancers of soloist and principal caliber at The Music Center on Saturday, July 17, 2021, between 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Participants must register online in advance. For more information and to register, applicants can visit: https://lines-audition-2021.eventbrite.com.

Following each LINES Ballet performance, The Music Center will host a free concert on Jerry Moss Plaza starting at 8:45 p.m., which will be open to both ticket holders and the public. Grammy-nominated Jens Lindemann leads his quartet, performing selections ranging from Jazz to Contemporary, Classical to Klezmer, and Spirituals to Rock.

With the relaxing of state and local public health restrictions, The Music Center will still employ common sense safety practices to protect artists, staff and patrons. All tickets will be digital for these performances and will be scanned by usher staff onsite. No proof of testing or vaccination status or face coverings are required. Restrooms on Jerry Moss Plaza will be open to ticketed guests. Self-parking will be available in The Music Center Main Campus Garage, accessible via the Grand Avenue entrance. Valet parking will not be open.

In accordance with CDC and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health directives, The Music Center worked behind-the-scenes for the last 15 months to prepare for the return of live performances in its venues, both indoors and outdoors, by implementing new measures, protocols and procedures to minimize risk for its guests and employees. Please visit musiccenter.org/safety for information about The Music Center's safety and security measures.

Presented as part of the 18th season of its Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center and programmed by TMC Arts, Dance at Dusk showcases four paid ticketed dance residencies with presentations on a new stage in Jerry Moss Plaza, offering a unique balance of traditional and modern dance experiences that star the very best in American dance. Following all Los Angeles County Department of Public Heath guidelines, the Dance at Dusk outdoor dance series began with "The Super Villainz: A Tap Dance Act for the Modern Age" featuring Dormeshia, Jason Samuels Smith and Derick K. Grant (May 26-30, 2021) followed by American Ballet Theatre (June 2-6, 2021) and Paul Taylor Dance Company (June 16-20, 2021). The series concludes with Alonzo King LINES Ballet.

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