Alonzo King's LINES Ballet is thriving because of you. Without your support, none of our accomplishments would be possible. You allow us to reach audiences on a worldwide scale through our company and to give dancers of all levels with varying ages and backgrounds the opportunity to pursue their passion through our educational programs.

As we face tough economic times, it is more important than ever to have thriving arts organizations. If, together, we are going to meet the very difficult temporal challenges of our current time, we need to be constantly reminded that our world and its people are truly beautiful. After all, it is art that shows us the universality of people is more compelling than our differences - that there is beauty in all of us.

Please consider making a financial gift to Alonzo King's LINES Ballet this year. By doing so, you ensure we continue to bring creative excellence and artistic diversity to San Francisco. Thank you.

The San Francisco Dance Center will begin its 20th Anniversary year, 2009, with a bang. On February 15, SFDC will throw open its doors to new visitors with an open-house called "All You Can Dance for Just $5." This event will allow newcomers to sample bite-sized portions of the variety of dance we offer - ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, Pilates, and demonstrations of our upcoming workshops. Watch our website and talk to our front desk staff for more news about this event.

Even more exciting are the wealth of workshops planned for March and April. Jenni Bregman, LeeWei Chao, Stephanie Herman, Heidi Schweiker, and Katharina Worthington will all be conducting Choreography and Performance Workshops. Participants will get "real-world" choreography and rehearsal experience and perform on May 2 at the San Francisco Dance Center.

The San Francisco Dance Center will have an abbreviated schedule around the Holidays. On Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, we will only offer morning classes. On Christmas, Boxing Day (Dec. 26) and New Years Day, we are closed.

We are looking forward to 2009 so mark your calendars for upcoming Alonzo King's LINES Ballet performances.

Spring 2009, April 17-26, is sure to be spectacular with the return of Signs and Wonders, a work commissioned by Dance Theater of Harlem and set to indigenous African tribe music. This piece will incorporate Alonzo's inspirations from his current travels to Ethiopia (more information in next article). The season will also include a San Francisco premiere set to classical music.

May 5-10 the Company will perform Rasa, an exhilarating and thrilling piece set to tabla master Zakir Hussain's rythmic beat, at the Joyce in New York City. Plan your travels now!

October 23-November 1 are the dates for the fall 2009 season. We're working on a special opening night celebration including world premiere performances which will run throughout the season.

Finally, the Company touring plans include visits to Italy, France, Canada, Israel and Hawaii. For more information, visit the touring section of our website.

As LINES Ballet School moves into the new year, we are looking forward to the start of an exciting audition tour for our Summer Program. School Director Layla Amis will visit 15 cities across the United States in January and February, auditioning roughly 800 dancers with interest in our Summer Program. LINES Ballet School will also offer two auditions right here in San Francisco, Saturdays, January 17 and February 21, 1:30pm - 3:30pm, so make sure to mark your calendar!

Register early by visiting our website and completing our audition registration form.

LINES Ballet School will also visit the Tampa and St. Petersburg areas of Florida January 11-15 with our Discovery Project, a five-day workshop targeted to intermediate and advanced dancers right in their own hometowns. The workshop costs $30 for all five days and addresses ways to use dance to bridge gaps created by diversity of experience, perspective, culture, and socio-economic background. We aim to contribute to the overall awareness and support of dance in communities all over the country.

Alonzo King's LINES Ballet clothing and merchandise make great holiday gifts. Clothing, posters, and calendars are available at our online store. We ship anywhere in the world.