Bill T. Jones News

R&B superstar Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child fame has joined the cast of 'Fela!' The musical, produced by Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and Stephen and Ruth Hendel, is filled with the exuberant music of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and will be presented from tonight, April 26 through May 5, 2013.

Pinter's one-act A Kind of Alaska opens tonight, April 20, 2013 at IRT Theater, 219 W 19th Street New York, NY, developed by IRT Theater and WeildWorks and presented by New York Live Arts. Click HERE for tickets.

New York Live Arts, the internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry based in New York City, kicked off its inaugural Live Ideas festival on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 with a full day of panels and discussions, concluding with a keynote conversation between New York Live Arts Executive Artistic Director Bill T. Jones and acclaimed neurologist Oliver Sacks.)

ODC Theater announces its program for 2013, featuring artists committed to expanding the experience of contemporary performance.

On Thursday, June 13 (7 + 9 pm) at The Invisible Dog in Brooklyn, choreographer Rebecca Lazier and indie-classical ensemble Newspeak present the first US performances of Coming Together/Attica, a site-specific setting of Frederic Rzewski's iconic minimalist scores written following the 1971 prison riots in upstate New York. Lazier's dancers are Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener (formerly of Merce Cunningham Dance Company); Asli Bulbul, most recently from Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; Jennifer Lafferty, who is featured in the work of Beth Gill and Yasuko Yokoshi; Pierre Guilbault; and Christopher Ralph.

ODC Theater's annual fringe-style festival returns for a second year with samplings of contemporary dance from around the nation. Over two days, Friday, May 31 - Saturday, June 1, 2013 the Festival will feature three separate programs designed to spark conversation. This year's superb roster of artists includes Brian Brooks Moving Company; casebolt and smith; Nicole Klaymoon's Embodiment Project; ODC/Dance; Rachael Lincoln and Leslie Seiters; Kate Weare and Company; and Scott Wells and Dancers.

New York Live Arts is set to present several Re: Awakenings performances as part of the inaugural Live Ideas festival. New York Live Arts' newest program initiative, Live Ideas is an annual humanities festival that will explore a different theme each year over several days. The inaugural festival, The Worlds of Oliver Sacks, will take place from today, April 17 through 21, 2013 and is comprised of more than 20 events, including performances, films and discussions that showcase works of art and spark conversations that engage the prevalent themes in the acclaimed neurologist's works.

New York Live Arts' Executive Artistic Director, Bill T. Jones, presents Live Ideas, the latest program initiative for the Chelsea-based organization that has become an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry and artists actively engaged with the political, intellectual and cultural currents of our times. Taking place each spring, Live Ideas will concentrate on a different theme, explored through conversation and artistic presentations over several days. The inaugural festival, taking place today, April 17th through Sunday, April 21st, 2013 at New York Live Arts is themed The Worlds of Oliver Sacks.

On last night's THE VOICE on NBC, Broadway vet Sasha Allen faced Amber Carrington in a spirited battle round as they sang a dueling duet of Pink's hit song 'Try.' Check out the performance below!

MATILDA THE MUSICAL, produced by The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers, opened last night April 11, 2013 at Broadway's Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street). Check out photos of the red carpet arrivals below!

New York Live Arts announces the 2013 Theater Access Program - a comprehensive rental program that provides performance space and resources to a diverse group of self-producing artists of all disciplines. This year's artists include (in order of appearance) 10 Hairy Legs, Ellen Robbins, NuMoRune Collaborative, Makeda Thomas, Elisa Monte Dance and Jennifer Muller/The Works, Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre and Joseph Mills for Modern American Dance Company.

Jacob's Pillow announces today that Executive and Artistic Director Ella Baff will soon present the seventh annual Jacob's Pillow Dance Award to Michelle Dorrance, an acclaimed tap dancer, choreographer, and Artistic Director of Dorrance Dance. Praised as a "talented choreographer, the most promising one in tap right now" by Brian Seibert of The New York Times, Dorrance is among the most respected tap performers of her generation.

On last night's THE VOICE on NBC, Broadway's own Sasha Allen caused a sensation when she performed the Dixie Chick's 'Not Ready to Make Nice' during the competition's Blind Auditions Round. Below, check out Allen's performance as well as a backstage interview after the show.

NYC-ARTS provides arts lovers in the tri-state area with an all-access pass to the New York City area's myriad cultural offerings: from music and dance concerts, to the theater, museums and galleries-from the classic to the contemporary.

New York Live Arts is set to present several Re: Awakenings performances as part of the inaugural Live Ideas festival. New York Live Arts' newest program initiative, Live Ideas is an annual humanities festival that will explore a different theme each year over several days. The inaugural festival, The Worlds of Oliver Sacks, will take place from April 17 through 21, 2013 and is comprised of more than 20 events, including performances, films and discussions that showcase works of art and spark conversations that engage the prevalent themes in the acclaimed neurologist's works.

The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, will star original Broadway cast members ALICIA HALL MORAN as Bess and NATHANIEL STAMPLEY as Porgy. The national tour, which begins in the late fall of 2013 will travel to more than 20 cities in its first season, including Los Angeles (Ahmanson Theatre), Seattle (5th Avenue Theatre), Dallas (Winspear Opera House), Charlotte, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Tampa, Las Vegas, Cleveland, West Palm Beach, Tempe and St. Paul, with additional cities to be announced in the coming days.

At the conclusion of FELA!, the Afrobeat political awareness musical, now on stage at the Palace Theatre, caskets are carried onto center stage and piled up. On top of the stack of caskets, emblazed with names such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and words such as 'freedom,' 'bullying' and 'oppression,' was a vertical box of death entitled, 'Chardon High School.' Yes, FELA! is filled with music, but it is a wrenching tale of genocide, oppression and death, not only in Nigeria, where the show is set, but across the world, including a Cleveland suburb.

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago celebrates 40 years as Chicago's leading presenter of local, regional, national and international contemporary dance during its 2013-14 season.

Following the participation of Edward Albee, Liv Ullmann, Placido Domingo, Bill T. Jones and Jacques D'Amboise along with other artistic notables in previous seasons of the arts-based series, HBO and the National YoungArts Foundation will continue its educational YoungArts MASTERCLASS series with a spotlight on two-time Tony Award-winning theatrical legend Patti LuPone today, April 1.

The theme of inquiry is particularly evident in the thirtieth season celebration, Play and Play: An Evening of Movement and Music, presented at The Joyce Theater. Play and Play is, as it turns out, a masterfully assembled works-in-progress showing of two current pieces, "Ravel: Landscape or Portrait?" and "Story/."