Story/Time #35, 36, 37, 38 & 39
Inspired by John Cage’s influential mid-20th Century work, Indeterminacy, in which Cage read 90 randomly sequenced one-minute stories interrupted by a chance musical score, Story/Time is performed in 70 minutes by 9 dancers, performing choreography from the Company’s 32-year history. Bill T. Jones has written 170 plus stories and collected others. Before every sequence, the stories, lights, sound and choreography are randomly selected through chance procedure.
Nov 4 – 6 at 7:30pm Story/Time #35 features Jones and the Company
Nov 7 & 8 at 7:30pm Story/Time #36 Kathleen Chalfant – Amble or Career brings the Tony-Award winning Chalfant on stage together with Bill T. Jones in the intimate setting of the Live Arts Theater. Amble or Career will feature an array of personal stories from both performers.
Nov 11 & 12 at 7:30pm Story/Time #37 Lois Welk – A History features Lois Welk, who founded the American Dance Asylum Inc. (ADA) in 1972 and co-directed it with Jones and Arnie Zane, co-founder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, from 1973–1979. Welk joins the Company on stage to share personal stories of her own that center on memories from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Welk’s stories provide a special window into the history of Jones’ and Zane’s early years in Binghamton, NY.
Nov 13 & 14 at 7:30pm Story/Time #38 features Jones and the Company
Nov 15 at 7:30pm Story/Time #39 Theaster Gates – Workin’ and Wailing is a one night only performance with the Chicago-based conceptual artist known for his practice of socially-minded space development, object management, performance and critical engagement. Gates will be accompanied by three members of The Black Monks of Mississippi, an experimental musical ensemble comprised of Gates’ close collaborators who temporarily follow semi-strict adherence to the blues form, one that Gates believes to be the most important root in American music. Following the common thread of chance-procedures, story-telling, and a firm focus on time, Gates and the Monks will join Jones and the Company in an energetic evening of live music, art, stories and dance.
Related Events:
Nov 6 at 6:30pm Come Early Conversation: Bjorn Amelan, Janet Wong and Ted Coffey discuss the creative process of making Story/Time
Nov 7 Stay Late Discussion: Chance Procedures and Narrative Structures, Bill T. Jones, Bjorn Amelan, Janet Wong, Ted Coffey and BTJ/AZDC Dancers in Dialogue
Nov 8, 3 – 6pm Shared Practice: Process-focused workshop led by Bill T. Jones and Janet Wong. $20, advance purchase recommended.
Nov 8, 12pm-2pm Master Class with LaMichael Leonard in the Live Arts Theater
Nov 9 Bill Chat: Story/Time: The Life of an Idea with Jedidiah Wheeler
Nov 14 Stay Late Discussion: Creating Story/Time #35, 36, 37, 38 & 39: Bill T. Jones, Bjorn Amelan, Janet Wong, Ted Coffey and BTJ/AZDC Dancers in Dialogue
This presentation of Story/Time is made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts and by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Corey Johnson.
Story/Time premiered in 2011. The work was co-commissioned by Peak Performances, Montclair State University and the Walker Art Center and produced by New York Live Arts.
Story/Time was developed, in part, through residencies at Arizona State University, Bard College, Montclair State University, University of Virginia and the Walker Art Center. The work was supported, in part, by New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Boeing Company Charitable Trust.
The creation of new work by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is made possible by the Company’s Partners in Creation: Ellen Poss, Jane Bovingdon Semel & Terry Semel, Anne Delaney, Stephen & Ruth Hendel, Eleanor Friedman, and Zoe Eskin.
