Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in Residence at Bard College in May

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—In May, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company will conduct a creative residency at Bard College, capping the third year of its partnership with the Bard College Dance Program. While at Bard, Associate Artistic Director Janet Wong will lead the Company in developing a new work set to Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major (1903). Bard dance students will have the opportunity to take a master class with Wong, attend open rehearsals, and participate in lunchtime conversations with Company members. As part of its residency, the Company will present three performances that are free and open to the public.

On Thursday, May 17 at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, May 19 at 2 p.m., Bard Dance Program students will perform works by Company member Paul Matteson created during his spring semester teaching residency in the Dance Program through the Company’s partnership. Several Company members—including Talli Jackson, Jenna Riegel, and Antonio Brown with I-Ling Liu—will also perform their own works. The performance will take place in the Thorne Studio of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.

On Friday, May 18 at 6 p.m., the Company will present a work-in-progress performance of a new work created while in residence at Bard. Set to Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major, the Company will preview the work, including a new décor by Bjorn Amelan, a visual artist and the Company’s Creative Director. The performance will take place in LUMA Theater of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.

From May 16 to June 1, as part of the Company’s residency and ongoing work in the Hudson Valley, Company artists will teach creative movement classes to third- through sixth-graders at Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School in Hudson, N.Y.


SCHEDULE OF PUBLIC EVENTS

Works by dancers of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Thursday, May 17, 7–8 pm
Saturday, May 19, 2–3 pm
Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Thorne Studio

Bard Dance Program students perform two works created by Company teaching artist Paul Matteson during his teaching residency at Bard. Company members—including Talli Jackson, Jenna Riegel, and Antonio Brown with I-Ling Liu—will perform their own works.

 
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company work-in-progress performance
Friday, May 18, 6–7 pm
Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, LUMA Theater

A work-in-progress performance of a new work created while in residence at Bard, set to Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major (1903). The Company will preview the work, including a new décor by visual artist and Creative Director Bjorn Amelan.

TO DOWNLOAD a high-resolution photo, please go to: www.bard.edu/news/press.


ABOUT BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE DANCE COMPANY
Now in its 29th year, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company was born out of an 11-year collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane (1948–1988). During this time, they redefined the duet form and foreshadowed issues of identity, form, and social commentary that would change the face of American dance. Today, the nine-member Company has performed worldwide in over 200 cities in 40 countries on every major continent and is recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the modern dance world.

In 2010, the Company announced a groundbreaking merger with Dance Theater Workshop that the New York Times said could “alter the contemporary dance landscape in New York.” The organization, called New York Live Arts, strives to create a robust framework in support of the nation’s dance- and movement-based artists through new approaches to producing, presenting and educating. For more information, go to www.newyorklivearts.org


ABOUT BILL T. JONES
Bill T. Jones, a multitalented artist, choreographer, dancer, theater director, and writer, has received major honors ranging from a 1994 MacArthur “Genius” Award to Kennedy Center Honors in 2010.  He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009 and named “An Irreplaceable Dance Treasure” by the Dance Heritage Coalition in 2000. His ventures into Broadway theater resulted in a 2010 Tony Award for Best Choreography in the critically acclaimed FELA!, the musical he co-conceived, co-wrote, directed, and choreographed. He also earned a 2007 Tony Award for Best Choreography in Spring Awakening as well as an Obie Award for the show’s 2006 off-Broadway run. His choreography for the off-Broadway production of The Seven earned him a 2006 Lucille Lortel Award.

Jones choreographed and performed worldwide with his late partner, Arnie Zane, before forming the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 1982. He has created more than 140 works for his company. In 2010, Jones was named Executive Artistic Director of New York Lives Arts, formed by a merger of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and Dance Theater Workshop.
 

ABOUT THE BARD COLLEGE DANCE PROGRAM
The Bard Dance Program sees the pursuit of artistry and intellect as a single endeavor. We believe that the study of the body is a cognitive act demanding both physical practice and academic exploration. We focus on dance and choreography as a performing art with an interdisciplinary scope. Students are exposed to areas of inquiry that represent the broader contexts in which the art form exists, in and outside of the arts. We expect students to take risks—risks that call on their participation as citizens of the world and cultivate their perceptive sensibilities. We foster the discovery of a dance vocabulary that is meaningful to the dancer/choreographer and essential to her or his creative ambitions. This discovery leads to the cultivation of original choices—choices informed by a full exploration of a student’s surroundings, choices that find expression in new and dynamic ways. We prepare dancers for the versatility and integration necessary to face the questions: Where will dance go next? What will the next dance revolution look like and where will it come from? We believe that serious inquiry in all areas of the liberal arts is critical to the development of the whole person and to the success of our future artists.

Beginning in fall 2009, the dance program at Bard College has partnered with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company to offer new classes in dance technique and choreographic methods, as well as special campuswide forums and workshops. Courses are taught by current and former members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company under the direction of Leah Cox, the company’s education director. This innovative partnership offers Bard students the unique opportunity to work closely with a world-renowned professional company during their undergraduate course of study.

(05/09/12)

This event was last updated on 05-09-2012

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