Bill T. Jones to Bring STORY/TIME to Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, 10/24-26

Kennedy Center honoree, two-time Tony Award winner and MacArthur "Genius" award winner Bill T. Jones returns to the stage at the center of a new work for his renowned company, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, as part of The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago's 40th season. Performances are October 24-26 at The Dance Center, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.

Story/Time, inspired by legendary artist and composer John Cage's Indeterminacy, is a collage of dance, music and 70 of Jones' short stories, arranged anew for each performance by chance procedure. Jones fuses the age-old art of storytelling with a vibrant landscape of contemporary movement and music. Similar to a busy streetscape or a crowded room, the experience challenges audience members to find meaning and connection in the sweep of randomized, disparate elements. Jones draws these short stories from his own life and tales handed down through the generations of his family, among other sources. In layering a traditional form against the avant-garde compositional concerns of the mid-century modernists, the tension between high and low art is called into question. Composer, musician and intermedia artist Ted Coffey, Ph.D. composes and performs a new acoustic and electronic score that draws upon chance procedure and interactive technologies. Contains nudity and mature content.

The Dance Center presents Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company October 24-26, 2013, Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m. at The Dance Center, 1306 S. Michigan Ave. Single tickets are $26-30; subscribers who order tickets to three or more performances during the 2013-14 season save 20%. All programming is subject to change. The theatre is accessible to people with disabilities. For information, call 312-369-8330 or visit colum.edu/dancecenter.

PHOTO: Story/Time, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, photography Paul B. Goode.