SAN FRANCISCO, CA—LINES Ballet Company delighted audiences this weekend with an unusual production of Swan Lake in which all the dancers were in wheelchairs. Director Alonzo King, well-known for his visionary choreography, took this bold step to honor those who cannot use their legs, for whatever reason. King explained, “I have a profound sense of shared humanity, what better way to honor and express that than through breaking the boundaries of disabilities to show the true art and beauty in everyone, even the invalid.”
While none of his dancers is an actual invalid, or uses a wheelchair in normal everyday living, they were each willing to take on the challenge of learning how to maneuver a wheelchair and even do it with the grace and precision characteristic of ballet dancers. To add to their skill, actual wheelchair-bound individuals trained the dancers in specialized techniques, popping wheelies, tight turns, and even spins. Veteran dancer Audrey DuBois, 33, said of her experience, “At first I thought that this wasn’t going to work, I mean, wouldn’t it be more like bumper cars with a dozen or so wheelchairs there on the stage? But Alonzo, he is just so brilliant, he made it work beautifully and I for one am so glad I had this opportunity.”
The Colon interviewed several audience members who did know it was to be a wheelchair performance and that 20% of the proceeds would go to help the disabled. Arthur Pendleton, 60, who attended with his wife, commented, “I wasn’t quite sure if it was supposed to be funny or serious, but I really had to stifle a laugh when I heard that one squeaky wheelchair. I guess the performance was ok.” Kathryn Abernathy, 57, reported, “The costuming was beautiful, but some of the tutus were sticking straight up, almost blocking the faces. I wish they could have done something about that. As far as the dancing, something was seriously missing without the pirouettes and such.” Gary Sanderson, 35, explained, “The squeaky wheelchair was annoying, I was glad they oiled it after the first number. I was very impressed the wheelchairs didn’t bump into each other or roll off the stage, I kept waiting for that to happen.”
Mark Farrell, interim mayor of San Francisco after the death of Ed Lee last December, was at the performance and said, “We are very lucky to have the LINES Ballet Company here in our fair city. I hail Alonzo King as one of the city’s greatest assets. Bravo, Mr. King!”
Although King considers the performance as one of his greatest achievements, there was only one performance, as they are on a very tight schedule for their regular season. He does have a plan in the works for next year, “I am working on a performance of Don Quixote using all undocumented dancers. Right now we have hit a snag with the union.” He is speaking of the American Guild of Musical Artists [AGMA] that also covers dancers. “There are a few hurdles to get over, the first being finding the hundreds of ballet dancers among the millions of foreigners, then auditions, etc. But once I set my mind to something, well, there’s no stopping me.”