Deep Blue Sea

“Pip saw God’s foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it; and therefore his shipmates called him mad. So man’s insanity is heaven’s sense; and wandering from all mortal reason, man comes at last to that celestial thought, which, to reason, is absurd and frantic; and weal or woe, feels then uncompromised, indifferent as his God.”

-Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Deep Blue Sea revolves around the interplay of single and group identities. Bill T. Jones conceived this highly personal work in pursuit of the elusive “we” during these fractious times through a cast of 100 dancers/community members, and a deconstructed text from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Conceived for the Drill Hall, Deep Blue Sea magnifies the vast space through a visual environment by Elizabeth Diller of the acclaimed architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Tony Award-nominated projection designer Peter Nigrini (Beetlejuice, Fela!), with an original score by composer Nick Hallett and electronic music producer Hprizm aka High Priest with Holland Andrews. In addition to choreographing and directing, for the first time in over 15 years, Jones himself performs.

Artist talk with Bill T. Jones and Elizabeth Diller
Thursday, September 30, 2021 at 6:00pm
Tickets: $15 (plus fees)

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