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Breathtaking lines 25 years of Alonzo King's vision.

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On a warm San Francisco spring morning, choreographer Alonzo King leads a preprofessional women's class and sustains a running patter for an hour. He's a combination of drill sergeant and guru.

"I don't want to see a position. I want to see an idea," King barks. "I want to find the geometry of fifth. It must start inside. This is your instrument. I want to see you play it." King can be inspirational, but he can also be specific: "No hips, no hula, only the socket," he commands at one point. You can almost feel the wave of confidence slowly filling the room.

Ask King about the qualities he seeks in a dancer and the answer should explain why his LINES Ballet attracts a stream of performers desperate (to the point of undergoing multiple auditions) to get in. The challenge is simply too tempting for the young and adventurous.

"First, I take it for granted that they have a solid technique," the choreographer says. "But what I admire in dancers is the same thing I admire in all human beings. I like fearlessness. I like honesty. I like someone who can forget about themselves, to lose their self-consciousness, to be something, rather than to do."

Inquire, then, about the place of the audience in the scheme.

"Look," King says. "Life is hard. Who wants to get home, take a shower, dress up, go out to a...

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