This time around the young twin boys are missing as well as the elder whose presence in the previous performances was so impressive,changes necessitated by visa problems. Instead there were seven monks, part of the newly established temple in Fremont where its program includes
martial art instruction alongside Chan Buddhist services and training.

This season changed the encounters between the monks and the dancers, most quite enhancing. Divided into two acts, one with ten numbers, the second with nineteen, solos or ensembles by the monks numbered eight, dancers alone thirteen and the collaborations eight. Little connection existed where dancers and monks worked amongst themselves; a few cross over gestures made judicious appearances as the work progressed. There also seemed to be a greater comfort zone between the two groups. One spectacular instance occurred when Shi Yanran gently supported Meredith Webster in her arabesque and classic ballet promenade.

Most dancer-monk encounters, however, were mano a mano. The shorter, compact physique of the monks, one shoulder bared but otherwise in yellow or saffron tunics, ballooning trousers confined below the knee, their percussive attack contrasted markedly with the dancers, nude to the waist and wearing calf length white tights, muscle and bones in sharp relief.

The seven monks were Shi Yanran, the head monk, Shi Yansong, Shi Yanguo, ShiYanliang, Shi Yanzhong, Shi Yankuan, Shi Yanlong. Shi Yanran; their stretches, jumps, turns and tumbling consistently underscored Chinese acrobatic as well as martial arts traditions.

Dancing in the the Lines ensemble, Laurel Keen and Meredith Webster are similarly toned both in coloring and build, dissipating the energy of their remarkable line with spread fingers and limp wrists. Ashley Jackson and Caroline Rocher presented contrast, Jackson with her strong, clear, unaffected classicism, Rocher with an intensity and wit reflecting her years in Europe. Their pas de trio with Ricardo Zayas heightened the contrast. Among the men, Corey Scott-Gilbert not only was a stand out in height but his energy and attack was consistently focused.

The most spectacular collaboration surfaced in the finale where dancers and monks appeared side by side, the dancers executing the opening movements of yang style t’ai ch’i with an additional martial art emphasis.

While the entire performance was a tremendous treat, one quality of King’s choreography lingers: the work is a series of episodes, frequently unrelated, relying on uniqueness of diverse forces to make its impression. Perhaps I want a story or a climax while King is content to display episodes. Given classical en haut epaulement with bends, reaches and waist or hips as fulcrum characteristic of Alonzo King’s choreography, which also eschews eye contact, contrasted with the forceful jumps, turns and flips of the Shaolin monks, it seemed filigree meeting ch’i.

Shi Yanran, Shi Yansong, Shi Yanguo, ShiYanliang, Shi Yanzhong, Shi Yankuan, Shi Yanlong. Shi Yanran, Webster, Keen, Jackson, Rocher, Zayas, Scott-Gilbert.