Bill T. Jones News

Multi-genre musical experience We Shall Overcome comes to Pepperdine University at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, 2020 at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts.

Queer|Art, New York City's home for the creative and professional development of LGBTQ+ artists, is pleased to announce the winner of the second annual Eva Yaa Asantewaa Grant For Queer Women(+) Dance Artists, Hollerin Space. Philadelphia-based duo Hollerin Space will receive a $10,000 cash grant to support the development of Hold On, a new work that researches algorithms of black assembly and theories and practices of being free. This particular work traces black gathering and migrations in the broad period between 1919 and into some optimistic future. Development of this work will include study and enactment of the Juneteenth tradition of call, drum & step as part of the group's training for the premiere of an ensemble production set for 2020 in Philadelphia. The ensemble will convene for 10 workshops over a 9 month period, centering research and world building, at House of Black Infinity located in Philadelphia.

ODC Theater will present Kinetech Arts in the world premiere of AI SENSORIUM, a multidisciplinary investigation of the powers and pitfalls of artificial intelligence (AI). Performances run February 21 - 23, Friday to Sunday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $30, and may be purchased online at odc.dance/tickets or by phone at 415-863-9834.

Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance will return to NYC February 25 and 26, 2020 with the premiere of Tales of Hopper (2019), a new theater-dance work inspired by American realist painter Edward Hopper. Performances will take place at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 W 37th St, New York, NY 10018 at 7:30pm. Tickets available at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4418307.

The Atlanta Opera will launch the new year with a new mainstage production of Salome, Richard Strauss's still unsettling 1905 take on Oscar Wilde's twisted biblical tale of incest, seduction and power (Jan 25, 28, 31; Feb 2).

As 2020 approaches, a new appreciation of male virtuosity demands consideration. Possibilities for dancers have exploded over the last decade as extreme stretching and acrobatics have come into vogue, though not always for the best. While circus tricks and random moments now seem to rule the stage, not all 'innovation' has been destructive for men. Where once trying to play it straight was the norm, this generation of performers gives zero f*x for anything other than staying true to their artistry and health.

The Center for the Arts at George Mason University welcomes the return of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company with a thrilling world premiere co-commissioned by the Center, entitled What Problem? Saturday, February 1 at 8 p.m.

Chicago's own Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC) returns to the Auditorium Theatre's landmark stage on Saturday, February 29, 2020, following its lauded 2019 performance at the theatre.

Renowned violinist/composer Daniel Bernard Roumain collaborates with local music makers in a concert infused with electronic, urban, and classical sounds, celebrating a worldview of civil rights for all.

Jacob's Pillow announces public events held January through May in its Winter/Spring season, featuring co-presentations with local cultural partners; Pillow Parties; workshops and classes; Pillow Pop-Ups; and more. Events take place January through May on the Pillow's 220-acre campus in Becket, MA and across Berkshire County. As the Pillow continues to advance its five year strategic plan, Vision '22, the organization increasingly activates its local and national presence by expanding programming and extending resources beyond its acclaimed summer dance festival.

Theodora Skipitares has achieved renown for her large-scale puppetry epics on such topics as physics, genetics and medicine. An early American giant of science is the subject of her latest multi-media spectacle, 'The Transfiguration of Benjamin Banneker.' It celebrates the life of the free black man who, living in Maryland from 1731 to 1806, became one of his era's most outstanding engineers and astronomers. La MaMa will present the world premiere of the piece January 23 to February 2 in its Ellen Stewart Theatre, at 66 East Fourth Street.

ULISES OTERO of MIAMI, FL from NEW WORLD SCHOOL OF THE ARTS and UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, has been named a 2020 National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) Finalist in Theatre, the organization's highest honor. Otero has been recognized for his artistic achievement and joins 686 of the nation's most accomplished artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts.

Catarina de Luca Figueiredo of Miami, Florida from New World School of the Arts has been named a 2020 National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) Finalist in Theater, the organization's highest honor. De Luca Figueiredo has been recognized for her artistic achievement and was selected by an esteemed discipline-specific panel of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process. YoungArts award winners gain access to one of the most prestigious programs for emerging artists in the United States in which they will have opportunities for creative and professional development throughout their entire careers. A complete list of the 2020 winners, all 15-18 years old or in grades 10-12, is available online at youngarts.org/winners.

JORDAN RICE of ATLANTA, GA , has been named a 2020 National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) Finalist in DISCIPLINE, the organization's highest honor. RICE is a homeschooler and has been recognized for her artistic achievement and joins 686 of the nation's most accomplished artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts. RICE was selected by an esteemed discipline-specific panel of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process. This year's award winners represent the top 9.5% of applications across ten artistic disciplines. YoungArts award winners gain access to one of the most prestigious programs for emerging artists in the United States in which they will have opportunities for creative and professional development throughout their entire careers. A complete list of the 2020 winners, all 15-18 years old or in grades 10-12, is available online at youngarts.org/winners.

The American Dance Festival (ADF) will present the 2020 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement to acclaimed choreographer Shen Wei. Established in 1981 by Samuel H. Scripps, the annual award honors choreographers who have dedicated their lives and talent to the creation of modern dance. Shen Wei will be in residence at ADF during the 2020 season working on his latest ADF commission set on ADF students. ADF Director Emeritus Charles L. Reinhart will present the $50,000 award in a brief ceremony on Thursday, July 23rd at 8:00pm, prior to the Footprints performance in Reynolds Industries Theater.

Damien Sneed's 40+-City North American tour, 'We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.' tour kicks off at Joe's Pub in New York, NY on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at 9:30 p.m. Presented by IMG Artists, today's leading global performing arts management agency, the tour will make stops at concert halls and universities in the U.S. and Canada. For a complete list of the tour dates, click HERE.

The Center for the Arts at George Mason University continues the 2019/20 Great Performances at Mason season this January and February with innovative dance programsa?"including a world premiere co-commission, stirring classical music, and the return of Virginia Opera, in addition to signature events from Mason's College of Visual and Performing Arts.

CUNNINGHAM, a 3D cinematic experience about legendary American choreographer Merce Cunningham is set to be released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 13 March 2020, following the Merce Cunningham centenary this year.

National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) has announced the 2020 YoungArts award winners-686 of the nation's most accomplished young artists from 40 States in the visual, literary and performing arts. Selected for their caliber of artistic achievement, award winners are chosen by esteemed discipline-specific panels of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process.

The New York Times is pleased to announce Forward: Twenty Years of TimesTalks, a new photobook of black-and-white portraits of over 60 influential artists, actors, filmmakers, politicians, authors, activists, and Times reporters that have participated in TimesTalks, The New York Times live conversation series, including Marina Abramovic, Tilda Swinton, Nan Goldin, Ai Weiwei, Marc Jacobs, and Rami Malek, along with executive editor Dean Baquet, technology reporter Jenna Wortham, investigative reporter Jodi Kantor, 'The Daily' host Michael Barbaro, and chief White House correspondent Maggie Haberman. Full list below.