A Letter to My Nephew
A Letter to My Nephew, Bill T. Jones’ latest dance theater work, is an intimate, impressionistic collage for nine dancers, setting a portrait of Jones’s beloved nephew Lance T. Briggs—a talented dancer who struggled with illness and addiction—against the political landscape of the present. Composed like a series of postcards sent home, A Letter to My Nephew launches a swirl of images around Briggs––a vogue ball, a breathtaking vista, and a scene of forced migration––as he lies in a hospital bed. Flashing like a feverish hour of the evening news, this dramatic new work is an evocative and moving collage of imagery, movement, and sound. Using conversations with his nephew, Jones is navigating familial relationships within the context of a larger socio-political history. Performed in New York, Paris, Singapore, Boston, and Macau, each iteration serves as a snapshot of life in a specific place, incorporating references to local culture, customs and architecture as they relate to world events. Featuring Janet Wong’s haunting projections, composer Nick Hallett’s delirious score, and live performance by baritone Matthew Gamble and Hallett, Jones’ cultural critique is rewritten for the time and place of every performance, flashing by each night like a feverish hour of the evening news.
