Bill T. Jones News

Sydney Chatman and Congo Square Theatre Company were announced this week as recipients of the Joyce Foundation's 2021 Joyce Awards. Since 2003, the Joyce Awards have supported the creation of new work by emerging and mid-career artists of color to foster more culturally vibrant, equitable, and sustainable communities in six Great Lakes cities.

Broadway In Chicago will host the Pre-Broadway Premiere of Paradise Square. This new musical, which examines a remarkable yet virtually unknown moment in American history, will play a strictly limited engagement from November 2 - December 5, 2021, at Broadway In Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre. 

On May 25, 2021 at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern in a free virtual stream, a group of arts institutions across the nation will premiere the short film 'They Still Want To Kill Us', an aria by composer and activist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), performed by mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, and directed by filmmaker Yoram Savion.

The program will include the premiere of the piece by Savion, a discussion with DBR and Bridges, moderated by Jamilla Deria and a statement by Damario Solomon-Simmons of the Justice for Greenwood Foundation. 

Bard SummerScape 2021 opens with the live world premiere of I was waiting for the echo of a better day, a major new commission from Pam Tanowitz, the Fisher Center's inaugural Choreographer-in-Residence, with Jessie Montgomery, next Composer-in-Residence of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

'Modern Dance 101,' a program of rarely seen works by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, regarded as the Mother and Father of American Modern Dance, will be presented September 30-October 3, 2021 at the Theatre at St. Jeans, 150 East 76th Street, NYC.

An audio adaptation of the musical FELA!, written and directed by filmmaker Funa Maduka, will premiere on Clubhouse, the popular drop-in audio chat platform, on Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16.

Bard SummerScape returns to live performance with a wide-ranging and adventurous lineup this summer. Staged for limited in-person audiences, the 2021 season presents the 31st Bard Music Festival, “Nadia Boulanger and Her World,” which pays tribute to one of the most important female figures in classical music history.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is welcoming composer, performer, educator and activist Daniel Bernard Roumain to its artistic leadership team as Resident Artistic Catalyst, a new role that will further the NJSO’s leading commitment to transforming all aspects of the organization to meaningfully increase diversity, equity and inclusion.

Staged for limited in-person audiences, the 2021 season presents the 31st Bard Music Festival, “Nadia Boulanger and Her World,” which pays tribute to one of the most important female figures in classical music history; the first fully staged American production of King Arthur (Le roi Arthus), and more.

Share the Floor, conceived and created by Gattelli to showcase BIPOC choreographers and those from underrepresented populations in the dance world, is a free online program which provides both dance instruction and offers up-close-and-personal interviews with some of the brightest dancers, choreographers, and dance instructors.

La MaMa has announced the lineup for the 16th edition of La MaMa Moves! Returning for its annual spring season for two weeks in May, the 2021 festival will feature works by Hadar Ahuvia and Tatyana Tenenbaum, J. Bouey, Jasmine Hearn, Tiffany Mills, Ricarrdo Valentine, and Sugar Vendil.

Park Avenue Armory today announced dates for its premiere of Party in the Bardo, a collaboration between multidisciplinary artist and MacArthur “Genius” Jason Moran, who curates the Armory’s Artists Studio Series, and multi-Grammy Award–winning performance artist Laurie Anderson.

The Boston Symphony is returning to Tanglewood, its summer home in the beautiful Berkshires since 1937, and welcoming back audiences, July 9–August 16, for the first time since March 2020. The BSO is reopening and reimagining Tanglewood this summer—presenting a shorter, six-week season designed to capture the essential Tanglewood experience.

Park Avenue Armory has announced new performance dates for Afterwardsness—a new commission by dancer, director, and choreographer Bill T. Jones—which will now run in a series of eight performances from May 19 to May 26, 2021.

Park Avenue Armory has announced that its production of Afterwardsness has been rescheduled.

Today Jacob’s Pillow has announced plans to host a multi-platform virtual and on-site Festival in 2021, undertake substantial renovations to the Ted Shawn Theatre, and complete Vision ’22, a five-year strategic plan established in 2017.

Park Avenue Armory announced today the launch of Social Distance Hall, with a season of new commissions of dance, music, and theater created by artists during and in response to the pandemic.

Gina Gibney announced today that Rena Butler has been named Choreographic Associate for its resident dance troupe, Gibney Company. This new position was created to allow Butler to continue her career as a professional dancer while further developing her talent and experience as a choreographer and leader in the dance field. 

The Dramatists Guild's Institute for Field Learning has announced a National Teach-In for Art and Healing on Friday, February 26 to Sunday, February 28. Designed to help theatre professionals of all disciplines keep their artistic spirits kindled during this long, difficult winter lockdown, workshops will cover writing, solo performance and more.