Let's Have A Look At...;Brett Conway, bringing passion and concentration to his varied roles with Alonzo King's Lines.
If you wanted to meet the perfect fair-skinned, blue-eyed, laid-back Californian who strolls rather than walks, you would be about to meet Brett Conway, a member of the popular San Francisco-based "Lines" company. If you wanted to meet a dancer who performs with a fiery focus, intense purpose, and great joy you would meet the same young man.
Untainted by major East Coast company competition, "Lines" has given Conway a comfortable home for his first professional dance job. "I auditioned my senior year in high school in Fort Wayne, Indiana," Conway began, sipping at his bottle of vitamin water. "I had never heard of 'Lines,' but I knew it was not a classical rep, so I sent my audition tape hoping to be called to San Francisco. When I got the call to come I knew it was a risk for me as I had never been anywhere and didn't think I had a chance to make it. The call in San Francisco was a real cattle call," he said. "Hundreds of dancers showed up, but Alonzo was patient and clear with all of us."
Conway has been with "Lines" for five years, and he verified everything that has been said about the environment King creates for his dancers. No need to toss chairs or insults. Not in a "Lines" rehearsal. King is noted for his patience and devotion to his dancers. As a result his company of nine is fully dedicated to his choreography. Conway is a sterling example of how well this attitude can work. He has become a skillful performer, never letting up on his desire to deliver what is asked both by King and the choreography. King runs his dancers through miles of fast articulate movement phrases, and Conway seems to breeze right through. One can see his perseverance as his body maneuvers through the challenging phrases, his long limbs staying right with it. On stage he is hardly a laid-back Californian...he is a dazzling performer.
King's auditions are not the cold, daunting experiences these occasions have become often with rejection as the final result. Instead, he hopes they will be a learning experience. Conway thinks so. He was moved to try and absorb King's movement phrases but even more important his concepts. "I had never seen the company, nor had I really heard about them before the audition," he recalled. "But by the end I knew it felt right. His movement was me.
Conway admitted to not being a bravado type dancer. "Super Macho is not my way," he said. "Alonzo wanted the pure movement, but more important, he wanted the dancer to show where it came from. And I had never heard anyone speak to me in such a human way. It had no ring of 'you are the dancer, I am the director.'" Conway was one of three remaining at the end of the audition, and felt certain the job would be his. And it was.
To his delight he has discovered how much "Lines" is challenging him. "Alonzo wants our full participation, our complete presence -- more than just as a company member. It is not as such -- a job, it is a full commitment." King seems to have a process for each dancer to follow to achieve his personal best. "He has a plan for you and works with you as a individual," Conway declared, "and he inspires me to push myself. Sometimes I think 'how much more can I do?' But then I discover there is always more."
The title of the company is "Lines," and King has never denied how much he loves the long definitive lines of a female ballet dancer (all his female dancers have exquisite legs and arms and strong ballet technique.) But this past season at the Joyce Theater the men stood out. They are strappingly well-built, their attack on movement was powerful coupled with soft pliable transitions when needed, and supportive, accountable partnering. "We are always urged to go deeper into ourselves," Conway said. "Alonzo believes that way we are never bored. Our explorations are never finished. It is never a finished product, he says, and though we perform the same show all year it will be constantly evolving and growing."
King urges his dancers to watch each other, sit down front and listen to corrections given to another dancer. "A lot of our work is observation, and though night after night I do the same piece, I look at it again and still re-evaluate. Often the original idea is lost through performing over and over."
Conway and I strolled to the park together. He seemed to welcome the unexpected May sunshine in New York citing the fog that dampens San Francisco at this time of the year. He had a performance coming up that night and company class right before it, but he wasn't hurrying. He stopped to sit on the park steps and seemed grateful for the weather change and a moment to absorb the warmth in his muscles. "I'm a senior member of the company now -- five years. Wow!" he said, proudly. " Right now I am in a city I love, in my own apartment, with good people around me at work, and with Alonzo's choreography to keep me centered and fulfilled. I am lucky."