By Tom Sarago, DANCECleveland

The acclaimed LINES Ballet, let by visionary choreographer and artistic director Alonzo King, will come to the Ohio Theatre for two performances, Jan. 26-27, presented by DANCECleveland and PlayhouseSquare. The performance marks the first time LINES Ballet has performed in Northeast Ohio since their 2007 engagement at The University of Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall.

Founded in 1982, the celebrated contemporary ballet company based in San Francisco is guided by the unique artistic vision of King, who creates works that draw on deeply rooted cultural traditions, imbuing classical ballet with new expressive potential. Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as “one of the few bona fide visionaries in the ballet world today,” King has created more than 170 ballets, including a remarkable repertory for LINES, often working in collaboration with world-renowned musicians and artists. King’s works are represented in the repertories of such companies as the Swedish Royal Ballet, Ballets de Monte Carlo, Frankfurt Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Ballet and Hong Kong Ballet, among others.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet

LINES Ballet has been featured at venues such as the Venice Biennale, Monaco Dance Forum, the Edinburgh Festival and the Holland Dance Festival, among others. In the spring of 2012, the first full-length film of the company’s performances was released in Europe to inaugurate the company’s 30^th anniversary season.

DANCECleveland, a Cleveland, Ohio based non-profit, is one of a handful of presenters nationally that is dedicated solely to the presentation of modern and contemporary dance.  The centerpiece of the organization’s programming is its annual performance series. The performances are surrounded by an array of educational outreach events including artist-run master classes, residency programs, student matiness, pre-performance lectures and post-performance Q&A sessions, designed both to break artistic boundaries and provide community access to the dance aesthetic and dance luminaries that DANCECleveland brings to Northeast Ohio.

For more information about LINES Ballet, visit: www.linesballet.org. Tickets for the Saturday evening performance at 8 p.m. and the Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. are available at the PlayhouseSquare ticket office, 216-241-6000 or online at www.playhousesquare.org.