Musical LINES

Am rushing around like crazy today, so just a brief note to say that the Vancouver International Dance Festival kicked off last night in fine style with San Francisco's Alonzo King LINES Ballet in a double bill in a double bill at The Centre. The dancing was gorgeous, and I have a new favourite crush on company member Michael Montgomery, who moves with a sinewy grace and charismatic energy perfectly suited to King's choreography.

But equally compelling were the scores. King, who frequently collaborates with and commissions from contemporary composers, set the first piece, Resin, to a selection of traditional Sephardic music culled from the National Sound Archives in Israel, which he then mixed with Judeo-Spanish songs and Turkish and Moroccan cantorial music.

For King's updating of the Ballets-Russes' Scheherazade, composer and tabla player Zakir Hussain reinterprets Rimsky-Korsakov's original music via traditional Persian instruments and sound structures.

The program repeats tonight, and while the price tag is a bit steeper than usual for VIDF offerings, it's well worth it.

P.