PAS DE DIEU

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY LOBL

HOW DO YOU TELL a story in dance? As a young man aspiring to evolve from dancer to choreographer, Donald McAlpine constantly asked himself that question. His answer today: "Well, you tell it with movement!" As a Christian Scientist — and an artist who relies on God for his health and inspiration — Don says he naturally wants to "tell a good story."

When Don sees ballets composed by great choreographers, "there is something that has made the difference between just an exhibition of movement — or acrobatics — and something that really moves the spirit, that really makes you think, 'Gosh, that was wonderful!' And you think, If only I could do something like that!"

Following World War II, Don arrived in London on a scholarship from his native New Zealand, during "the ballet boom" of 1946 to 1948. "These people coming back had had enough of the horrors of killing and shooting and bombing and war. Everyone was just longing for beauty, for something which took them away from all that."