In the 1990s, the now Kennedy Center and MacArthur Genius awardee Bill T. Jones created a mega-thought-provoking dance theater work for his and late partner Arnie Zane’s ensemble of virtuosic movers and shakers, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company.
Based on a series of “survival workshops” with people dealing with life-threatening illnesses (think HIV/AIDS and cancer), the performers drew on a movement language created by these individuals, accompanied by audio recordings of their stories and moving video screens with both sound and image. Esteemed dance critic Arlene Croce labeled this theater genre “victim art” and not appropriate to review in an arts journal. The piece toured all over the globe as it questioned the relationship between professional art and personal trauma. It created a blueprint for much creativity since then in dance and many other art forms.
On Thursday, March 5, the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA will host a re-mounting of the 30-year-old work, “Still/Here,” at Royce Hall at 8 p.m. Though the original cast is no longer performing, the dance, music, text and images remain integral to the nonlinear narrative. Music for “Still” is by Kenneth Frazelle and for “Here” is by Vernon Reid.
Additionally, the presenter has included some pre- and post-show music and activities that begin at 6:30 p.m.
—Benn Widdey, Culture Spot LA
LOCATION:
10745 Dickson Court, LA 90095
TICKETS:
$42 https://ucla.evenue.net/event/C25/627?RSRC=&RDAT=
INFO:
https://cap.ucla.edu/event/bill-t-jonesarnie-zane-company-0
Photo credit: “Still/Here” / photo by Jim Coleman