Deep River
World Premiere May 13, 2022
Choreography: Alonzo King
Original Music: Jason Moran, Lisa Fischer
Music: Pharoah Sanders, Maurice Ravel, James Weldon Johnson
Vocals: Lisa Fischer
Lighting Design: Jim French
Costume Design: Robert Rosenwasser
Sound Design: Philip Perkins
Dancers: Babatunji, Adji Cissoko, Madeline DeVries, Shuaib Elhassan, Joshua Francique, James Gowan, Ilaria Guerra, Maya Harr, Marusya Madubuko, Tatum Quiñónez
INSPIRATION FOR DEEP RIVER
Over the first two years of the pandemic, Alonzo King and the artists of LINES worked in confined bubbles at their studios, in outside grassy areas of Golden Gate Park, on a farm in the isolated desert of Wickenburg, Arizona and in other locales in order to build work and not be halted or harmed by the pandemic. Deep River is the result of three years of working in designated time periods in unusual settings.
Along with the compositions of Jason Moran and the remarkable voice of Lisa Fischer, the use of spiritual music from the Black and Jewish traditions was selected to address the power of inspiration during difficulty and hope and determination against seemingly impossible odds. Deep River is the call to be fanatically positive regardless of circumstance. To bloom the lotus in the muck. And to look at one another as a family of souls. It points to the imbalance of the intellect without a heart, and the necessity to feel for others as we do for ourselves. It is a love letter to a world writhing in pain. The majority of the company is predominantly on stage, sewn through solos and pas de deux.