Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company to Play Joyce Theater, 11/10 - 11/14

The Joyce Theater will present the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company for a one-week engagement from November 10 - 14. Appearing on The Joyce stage for the first time since 1996, the company will present the New York premiere of the critically acclaimed Serenade / The Proposition, one of three pieces created by Bill T. Jones in celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. Serenade / The Proposition was commissioned by The Joyce and had its world premiere at the American Dance Festival in 2008.  

Not seen at The Joyce since 1996, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company returns with the NYC premiere of Serenade/The Proposition, one of a suite of works created to commemorate the 2009 bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. The lively, colorful production is a spirited rumination on the very nature of history, evoked through a collage of text, video projections and beautifully deconstructed costumes. An original score for piano, cello and voice is performed live, accompanying Jones's fluid choreography.

Tickets, starting at $10, can be purchased through JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or via the internet at www.joyce.org. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is currently celebrating its 25th Anniversary season. The Company was founded after 11 years of collaboration during which Bill T. Jones & Arnie Zane (1948 - 1988) redefined the duet form and foreshadowed issues of identity, form and social commentary that would change the face of American dance. It emerged onto the international scene in 1983 with the world premiere of Intuitive Momentum with legendary drummer Max Roach, at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music. Since then, the 10 member company has performed worldwide in over 200 cities in 30 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and the UK. Today, the Harlem based Company is recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the modern dance world.

The Company has distinguished itself through its teaching and performing in various universities, festivals and under the aegis of government agencies such as the US Information Agency (in Eastern Europe, Asia and South East Asia). Audiences of approximately 50,000 to 100,000 annually see the Company across the country and around the world.

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company freely explores both musically driven works and works using a wide variety of texts (such as Reading, Mercy and the Artificial Nigger based on Flannery O'Connor's 1955 short story, The Artificial Nigger). The repertoire is widely varied in its subject matter, visual imagery and stylistic approach to movement, voice and stagecraft. The company has been acknowledged for its intensely collaborative method of creation that has included artists as diverse as Keith Haring, The Orion String Quartet, the Chamber Society of Lincoln Center, Cassandra Wilson, Fado singer Misia, Jazz pianist Fred Hersch, Ross Bleckner, Jenny Holzer, Robert Longo, Julius Hemphill, and Peteris Vasks, among others. The collaborations of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company with visual artists were the subject of Art Performs Life (1998), a groundbreaking exhibition at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Some of its most celebrated creations are evening length works including Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land (1990 - premiered as part of the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music); Still/Here (1994 - premiered at the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, France); We Set Out Early, Visibility Was Poor (1996 - premiered at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City, IA, nominated for London's Laurence Olivier Award); You Walk? (2000 - premiered at Bologna, Italy, European Capital of Culture 2000) and Blind Date (2006 - premiered at Montclair State University's Alexander Kasser Theater in Montclair, NJ). The ongoing, site- specific, Another Evening is now in its sixth incarnation as Another Evening: I Bow Down.
The Company has also produced two evenings centered around Bill T. Jones' solo performance: The Breathing Show (1999 - Hancher Auditorium, Iowa City) and As I Was Saying. . .(2005 - premiered at the Walker Art Center's William and Nadine McGuire Theater).

DANCE TALKS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2 / 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Serenade/The Proposition approaches the legacy of Abraham Lincoln as a rumination on the nature of history. On the eve of the Bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, some of his documented words, his contemporary's writings and speeches, and other texts are used to set up the push and pull of historical perspective. Janet Wong, Associate Artistic Director of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and videographer of Serenade leads a video-illustrated talk on the making of the work and the ideas that shape it. "Dance Talks" are free and take place at Joyce SoHo (155 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince). Reservations are required: 646-792-8377.

Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company can be seen at The Joyce Theater for one week from November 10 - 15. Performances are Tuesday & Wednesday at 7:30pm, Thursday - Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm. Dance Chat, a free post-performance talkback with the artists (formerly known as Humanities), will take place on Wednesday, November 11, and is open to all audience members attending that evening's performance. The Joyce has updated its pricing structure this season to help make dance even more accessible to a wider audience with tickets starting at $10 (for the front row) and ranging up to $59 (top price for Joyce Members is $44). Please note: Ticket prices are subject to change. Tickets and subscriptions can be purchased by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or online at www.Joyce.org.  

Leadership support for The Joyce Theater's 2009-2010 season has been received from the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.

Generous support for this engagement was provided through a grant from The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc. to encourage the performance of New York City-based companies at The Joyce Theater.

Lead support to celebrate cultural heritage through dance provided by American Express.

Additional support for this engagement was provided with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. Special support provided by the Office of State Senator Thomas K. Duane. Major support for The Joyce has been provided by Bloomberg, The Boeing Company, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, First Republic Bank, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and The Shubert Foundation.

Photo Credit: Paul B. Goode