FY25 PARTNERS IN CREATION
Still/Here, photo by Joanne Savio
Photo by Maria Baranova
A LETTER TO MY PARTNERS
Hello, Partners in Creation,
It’s been a while since we’ve reconnected, and what a time to do so.
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is weeks away from remounting the powerful Still/Here (October 30-Nov. 2—Do not miss it!). It was first performed at BAM in 1994, breaking the boundaries between the personal and the political, the unique and the universal, the very nature of what was a “dance performance.” The Company 30 years ago was doing multimedia, multi-layered, maverick work never seen before.
It was met with a controversial response (by one particular critic who never saw it). We meet it today with a new context and landscape that drives home the essence of what we are all facing: survival. During a horrific time when we’re watching the struggle of democracy let alone humanity try to survive, this stunning piece, now performed by an entirely new generation, honors the strength of individual resilience and resistance. It also celebrates the strength of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and New York Live Arts.
Creation is about the old becoming newly seen and newly alive.
New York Live Arts—with its partners—continues to create by looking to its past, its present and its ever creative future.
THANK YOU for remaining a key partner in the struggle for Bill, Janet, the Company and all of New York Live Arts to survive—and thrive.
With deep gratitude,
Ellie Friedman (still here and still co-chair of PIC!)
p.s. Now would be a GREAT time to renew your multi year commitment.
A LIVING LEGACY
It is a rare and exhilarating privilege to witness an artist in the act of defining their legacy, especially one as deeply engaged with the world as Bill T. Jones. As we work to establish the legacy plan for Bill, we at New York Live Arts find ourselves in that very position. Bill, as our founding Artistic Director, continues to channel his creative vision into the pressing issues of our time: authoritarianism, racial and climate justice, migration and immigration, and the evolving dynamics of gender identity. His artistry and commitment to these causes guide our mission and define our future. As Bill embarks on this journey, he is joined by Associate Artistic Director Janet Wong, who has been his closest creative collaborator over the last three decades.
At the end of this month, we will mark a pivotal moment in our history with the return of Still/Here to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Originally premiered in 1994, Still/Here has long been regarded as a seminal work, transcending its time by evoking the spirit of survival, loss, and resilience in the face of adversity. This remount honors the original production and breathes new life into it, showcasing Bill’s enduring ability to engage with pressing social issues through movement, storytelling, and reflection.
Parallel to this, we are excited to be conceiving a legacy documentary project that chronicles Bill’s artistic journey while widening the lens to explore global themes of displacement and identity, with the goal of uniting art and democracy. This initiative is deeply intertwined with Bill’s series of evening-length performance works created for his company, encompassing Curriculum I, II, and the currently developing Curriculum III. These works are rooted in Achille Mbembe’s concept of a global curriculum, which advocates for decolonizing knowledge and highlights the interconnectedness of contemporary issues to equip learners with the tools to navigate a complex world. Formerly known as Curriculum Global, this ambitious film project offers a dynamic platform to engage with these vital questions in a compelling new format.
Over the past year, we’ve deepened this inquiry. Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and collaborators traveled to Brazil for the Joinville Dance Festival, where they connected with over 23,000 audience members and artists through workshops, dialogues, and performances that centered on environmental justice and the arts’ urgent role in addressing global crises.
As we look ahead, we invite you to explore the enclosed packet, which highlights the projects, the partnerships, the legacy in creation, and the performances on the horizon. This is a defining moment and a continuation of Bill’s lifelong conversation with movement, meaning, and social action. We hope you’ll take part in this creative adventure, experiencing it alongside us as fellow Partners in Creation! We look forward to sharing more as the year unfolds.
Very best,
Kim
The Fund for Equity
The Fund for Equity was established in 2021 as a way to increase artist compensation at Live Arts starting with members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company by instituting an annual wage for company performers that is not tied to a touring and rehearsal schedule. This represented the beginning of a meaningful change to what it means to be a working artist at Live Arts and aligns with our values and mission.
“The goal of the Fund for Equity is to create a model that is more economically sufficient, providing equitable wages for artists that tangibly value their skills as we say we do. We begin with our Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Company members by implementing annual compensation to our performers beginning July 2021, providing more stability and proactively manifesting our intentions,” - Kim Cullen, Live Arts Executive Director & CEO
Annual wage for performers begins at $55k for a first year Company member (including benefits) with consistent increases during a Company member’s tenure.
Total cost to New York Live Arts in FY24: $576,000 including benefits
Photo by Maria Baranova
Bill T. Jones
Artistic Director of New York Live Arts & Co-Founder of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Janet Wong
Associate Artistic Director of New York Live Arts & Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Arnie Zane
(September 26, 1948–March 30, 1988)
Co-Founder, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Photos by Maria Baranova (top) & Lois Greenfield (bottom)
BILL T. JONES/ ARNIE ZANE COMPANY PERFORMERS
MEET THE COMPANY
Jada Jehai
Shane Larson Danielle Marshall Jacoby Pruitt
Phillip Strom Mak Thornquest Rosa Allegra Woff Huiwang Zhang
Hannah Seiden
Barrington Hinds
Photos by Stephanie Crousillat
A Creative Partnership
Creativity is the heart of artistic production. Each new work begins with an idea, a first thought in the mind of the artist which then is developed over time, with great effort and resources, into a new artistic work. In the making, the artist heads out on a journey into the unknown, one foot in front of the other, finding solid ground with each step along the road.
Bill walks that road every day, and with each step new reality that we can recognize as different from our own comes closer into being. This process of creation requires hours of rehearsal time with the dancers, experimentation time with artistic staff and guest artists, close collaboration with designers, and access to live musicians whose rhythm and pulse add life and power to Bill’s work.
Join the (Ad)Venture
New York Live Arts and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company invite you to invest in creative and organizational growth by joining us in this commissioning (ad)venture partnership. Partners in Creation (PIC) gives you a front row seat to Bill’s legendary artistic process, allowing you an unprecedented level of access to one of the pre-eminent artists of our time. As a Partner in Creation, you will forge a relationship with Bill, his collaborators, and the members of his world-renowned Company as you travel with them along the long and fruitful road toward the creation of new work. Your participatory and financial partnership will make this a successful program by supporting innovation, living artists, and contributing to the organization’s financial sustenance.
You can do this in one of two ways:
• provide funding for an entire work.
• contribute to the PIC fund, along with an intimate group of like-minded contributors.
A Creative Journey with Bill
As a Partner in Creation or a PIC Partner, you are invited to take an insider’s journey with Bill as he creates work. Starting from the work’s moment of conception, you as a Partner will receive personal correspondence from Bill and the Company as the very first ideas are being explored. Next, you will be updated as Bill and his collaborators develop the concept and design the organizing principal of the work(s). As it develops, you will be offered the opportunity to attend rehearsals so that you can witness the transformation of the piece and have the opportunity to chat with Bill and the dancers about the social significance and their attitudes toward the work.
Later, you will be invited to an intimate Partners event with Bill, designers, guest artists and other Partners, where you may discuss your shared understanding of the ideas. As momentum builds to the world premiere, you will have the opportunity to invite your friends to join you as your special guests, offering them backstage access and insider information about the work’s evolution. Bill and the organization will give special recognition publicly and privately to your contribution and your vital role in bringing the work into the world.
ABOUT PARTNERS IN CREATION
A Social Opportunity
By becoming a PIC Partner, you join a close knit circle, essentially an intimate group of modern art connoisseurs, who understand the societal need to support remarkable artists like Bill who are on the forefront of artistic innovation. This insider’s journey will also be a unique opportunity to meet like-minded individuals, share in social gatherings and enjoy a variety of experiences and interactions.
What Do Partners Fund?
You will make an extraordinary impact upon the organization and its artists, and provide Bill and his collaborators the opportunity to devise, conceive, create, rehearse, design, re-imagine and bring to fruition a work of art. Most costs associated with new work creation, including rehearsal time, artistic and production staff time, dancer time, designer and musician fees, guest collaborator costs, scenery and costumes, and multimedia equipment, come during the research and development phase.
Levels of Participation and Commitment
We are seeking multi-year pledges ranging from $150,000 to over $300,000. These gift levels can be made as a one-time payment or paid in installments over 5 years. (Donor benefits are listed separately).
Join Us as a Partner!
We invite you to join Bill as a Partner in Creation, at the height of his artistic outpouring, to experience Bill’s singular artistic path with a multi-year commitment. Your participation will represent an unprecedented level of connection between the supporters of new work and its creators. It is a remarkable opportunity for prospective Partners, for Bill and the Company, and the organization as a whole. We are eager to embark upon it with you. We look forward to traveling with you, and discovering what we create together.
PIC FUNDED PROJECTS
30th Anniversary
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company remounts this timeless “landmark of 20th century dance” on its 30th anniversary, underscoring its ongoing resonance with today and its ability to evoke a spirit of survival. Created during one of the most contentious and terrifying periods, the AIDS epidemic, Still/Here broke boundaries between the personal and the political and exemplified a form of dance theater that is uniquely American. In spite of its being at the center of the culture wars, or because of it, the highly formal multimedia work defined and ultimately transcended its era. In the intervening years, much has changed in the world. Though with another Pandemic behind us, wars raging, the planet failing, and technology rising, somehow the questions around mortality Remain. The highly formal structures of Still/Here are delivered with simplicity and sophistication, marked by spoken text, video portraits, dance and the abstract nature of gesture. Gretchen Bender’s visual concept and multimedia environment is joined by music from Kenneth Frazelle (sung by Odetta) and Vernon Reid. Long-time collaborators include Liz Prince (costumes) and Robert Wierzel (lighting).
At the heart of Still/Here are the “Survival Workshops: Talking and Moving about Life and Death.” These workshops were conducted across the country with people living with life-threatening illness. The participants living on the front lines of the struggle to understand our mortality are in possession of information - info possible of being a gift and a burden. The participants’ generosity of spirit and willingness to express their experience both with words and gestures was both inspiring and difficult. They are the essence of Still/Here: their gestures inform the choreography, their words the lyrics, their images the stage. They will always be Still/Here. This work is dedicated to them.
The recreation of Still/Here is produced by New York Live Arts with lead support from Partners in Creation, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels. Additional support generously provided by the Ed Bradley Family Foundation, ASU Gammage, Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth and UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance.
Photo by David Smith
WORKS IN CREATION
PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS & CURRICULUM III (2023/2024)
The genesis of the series of works entitled Curriculum came from the Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe’s ideas around archive and curriculum. Curriculum I began by exploring the rich archive of Bill T. Jones’ movement phrases, which were mostly non-theatrical, non-psychological, and non-narrative, all made with the intention of clarity and form. Running parallel to and in juxtaposition with this formal exploration was a ticker tape of topical concerns informed by the 24-hour news cycle: climate change, racial violence, identity politics, reparations, and decolonization. Mbembe might have categorized these concerns as “planetary curriculum.”
People, Places and Things, a dynamic new work conceived and directed by Bill T. Jones, is an ancillary investigation reflecting on some preoccupations evidenced in the ongoing Curriculum series he is creating for and with the company. Collaborating with Associate Artistic Director Janet Wong, the ensemble cast brings to life a visually rich experience, enhanced by Robert Wierzel’s lighting design and Liz Prince’s costumes. The soundscape, composed by John Oswald, incorporates musical excerpts such as “I’ll Fly Away” by Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss, “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” by Bob Dylan, and text adapted from Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Tar Baby, creating a multisensory exploration of the human condition. Commissioned by New York Live Arts as part of Harlem Stage’s 40th Anniversary Season, the work exemplified the collaborative spirit. This has evolved into an ensemble piece for the Live Arts May 2025 season.
Curriculum III is in development and will feature a residency in Kaatsbaan, NY, from August 25–September 14, 2025, where Partners in Creation members will have the opportunity to enjoy a preview of this exciting work!
Credits:
Creator & Director Bill T. Jones; Choreography Bill T. Jones, Janet Wong, and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; Lighting Design Robert Wierzel*; Costume Design Liz Prince; Composer & Sound Designer John Oswald; Additional Musical Excerpts from I’ll Fly Away by Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss, Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues by Bob Dylan, Keep on Pushing by The Impressions, and Ursonate by Kurt Schwitters; Text Adapted from Beloved and Tar Baby by Toni Morrison. *Denotes Member of the United Scenic Arts Union (USA).
Photo by Maria Baranova
PIC FUNDED PROJECTS
CURRICULUM II (2022)
“For me, this is a matter of common sense. I am in favour of expanding the archive, reading the different archives of the world critically, each with and against the others. There can’t be any other meaning to a planetary curriculum.”—Achille Mbembe, in Interview by Torbjorn Tumyr Nilsen in Bergen Norway on November 30, 2018
Curriculum II (2022) was an exploration of race, technology, and humanity, drawing on the ideas of Achille Mbembe, Louis Chude-Sokei, and Sylvia Wynter. This work delved into the historical and ongoing relationship between race and technology through a complex interplay of text, narration, live music, and soundscore. Inspired by ChudeSokei’s interpretation of Wynter’s concept of the “other” as both marginalized and “that which is to come,” Jones’s title referenced Mbembe’s notion of a “planetary curriculum,” engaging with diverse global archives. Curriculum II juxtaposed formal dance with contemporary issues, blending clarity with poetic fragments and imagery to address urgent cultural questions.
Curriculum I (2020) was set to premiere at the Holland Festival in the summer of 2020 and was ultimately canceled due to Covid-19. Curriculum I evolved into Curriculum II which engaged with the historical and ongoing relationship between race and technology, drawing on the ideas of Achille Mbembe, Louis Chude-Sokei, and Sylvia Wynter. Through a complex interplay of text, narration, live music, and sound score, the work examined the intricate dynamics of race and technology, juxtaposing formal dance with contemporary issues. Inspired by Chude-Sokei’s interpretation of Wynter’s concept of the “other” as both marginalized and “that which is to come,” the piece referenced Mbembe’s notion of a “planetary curriculum” while engaging with diverse global archives. Curriculum II blended clarity with poetic fragments and imagery, addressing urgent cultural questions and reflecting on the impact of technology on the human experience.
Credits:
Conceived and Directed by Bill T. Jones; Choreography by Bill T. Jones with Janet Wong and the Company; Lighting Design by Robert Wierzel*; Sound Design by David van Tieghem*; Costume Design by Liz Prince; Scenic Design by Liz Prince in collaboration with Bill T. Jones, Bjorn Amelan, and Robert Wierzel; *Denotes Member of the United Scenic Arts Union (USA)
Photo by Maria Baranova
DEEP BLUE SEA (2021)
“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
Bill T. Jones, Janet Wong, and The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company’s massive work Deep Blue Sea, created for the Park Avenue Armory’s Drill Hall, revolves around the interplay of single and group identities. Jones conceived this highly personal work in pursuit of the elusive “we” with 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.
The visual environment was imagined by the renowned architect Liz Diller (Diller, Scofidio +Renfro) and TonyAward winning projection designer Peter Nigrini in collaboration with lighting designer Robert Wierzel and costume designer Liz Prince. The soundscape features an original composition by Nick Hallett with an electronic score by HPrizm aka High Priest, Rena Anakwe and Holland Andrews. In addition to choreographing and directing, for the first time in over 15 years, Jones returned to the stage.
PARK AVENUE ARMORY DRILL HALL, THE SITE OF DEEP BLUE SEA
Photo by Maria Baranova
PIC FUNDED PROJECTS WHAT PROBLEM? (2020)
“Their movement was so clear that one sensed words, even sentences and paragraphs as they danced. They curled in fetal folds, they swept past one another, they carried Jones aloft, eventually they clung to each other... What Problem? offered hope to humanity, and that’s something we all dearly need to embrace.” - Carmel Morgan, Critical Dance
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company’s recent work What Problem? provokes the tension between belonging to a community and feelings of isolation that many feel during these divisive political times. Adapted for proscenium stages from the massive work, Deep Blue Sea (2020), Jones conceived of this highly personal work in pursuit of the elusive “we” including a cast of local community members, a deconstructed textfrom Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Jones and the company develop individual content with local community members in each of the touring locations making each performance specific to its host city.
Jones reflects on King’s immortal words, we shall overcome, mixed with the scripture of our democracy as formed and shaped by “we the people.” There has always been an uneasy recognition of the truth at the base of the great Du Bois statement concerning “the problem of the color line” for Du Bois represented the epitome of otherness; yet we now understand this is much more complex. In our fractious era, What Problem? elaborates on this line in terms of sexual politics, gender identity, class struggles and immigration.
Credits:
Creator & Director Bill T. Jones; Associate Director Janet Wong; Choreography Bill T. Jones, Janet Wong and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; Lighting Design Robert Wierzel; Composer & Music Director Nick Hallett; Electronic Score Hprizm, Rena Anakwe and Holland Andrews; Costume Design Liz Prince; Dramaturg Mark Hairston.
Photo by Jim Coleman
AFTERWARDSNESS (2020)
“Yet even as the dancing appeared and disappeared like fragments, its starts and stops mirrored the energy of a strange and sad year. Wasn’t this what the days have been like, one banging cluelessly into the next? Waiting for a vaccination, waiting for justice. Hoping... [it captures] the spirit of time.”
- Gia Kourlas, The New York Times
In the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, afterwardsness is “a mode of belated understanding or retroactive attribution of sexual or traumatic meaning to earlier events... “ Jettisoning the sexual component and emphasizing the notion of “trauma.”
This awkward though evocative term comes very close to describing Jones’ state of mind when offered a commission to create a socially distanced work at the height of the pandemic in 2020. In some ways, the title parodies Jones’ (and many others) desire to have reached an end point to our twin pandemics: The COVID 19 pandemic and the calling out of systemic racism in the wake of high profile abuses by the police.
The piece was constructed quickly and within the constraints and uncertainty of social distancing. There is a retrospective dimension to Afterwardsness as much of its choreography comes out of assignments given to the dancers during their isolation requiring them to learn from archival videos phrase materials no longer in the repertory stretching back 40 years.
Jones invited Pauline Kim to be Musical Director in collaboration with composer/vocalist/instrumentalist Holland Andrews. They created a composite score that includes Kim’s original work 8:46 - an homage to George Floyd as well as compositions by Andrews and former company members, Vinson Fraley, Jr. and Chanel Howard. Following the work’s retroactive logic, we consciously excerpted Messaien’s great wartime composition Quartet for the End of Time.
Afterwardsness was commissioned by Park Avenue Armory, first performed at the Park Avenue Armory on October 16, 2020.
Photo by Maria Baranova
Dance for Sunset: Playing the Long Game
Aug 24
CREATIVE JOURNEY FALL 2024 - SPRING 2025
Site Specific Work outdoors at H.O.G Farm (Hamlet Organic Farm) Bellport, NY
Lecture, Performances and Class Visits
Jan 26-27
D-Man in the Waters & Continuous Replay Rehearsals
Jan 10-28
New Work Rehearsals
Aug 12-Oct 19
Pomfret High School Pomfret, CT
People, Places & Things excerpt Jan 13, 2PM
Live Artery
New York Live Arts New York, NY
New Work Rehearsals Mar 24-Apr 4
People, Places & Things Rehearsals
Jan 2-8
New Work Rehearsals Apr 21-May 9
Curriculum III Residency Aug 25-Sept 14
Curriculum III
Preview performances
Sept 13 & 14
Kaatsbaan, NY
Kaatsbaan, NY
Bill T. Jones: Still/Here With Bill Moyers (1997) VIP screening at New York Live Arts
Oct 1
Continuous Replay Rehearsals
Dec 2-6
People, Places & Things
May 12-24
Still/Here 30TH ANNIVERSARY originally premiered in 1994 VIP event Oct 30
BAM
Brooklyn, NY
Oct 30-Nov 2
New Work Rehearsals
Nov 18-27
BTJ/AZ Season New York Live Arts
D-Man in the Waters and Continuous Replay
July 31-Aug 1
D-Man in the Waters, Continuous Replay & New Work Premiere July/Aug TBD
Bates Dance Festival Bates, ME
Memory Piece...Alvin, Mr. Ailey... the un-Ailey?
Bill T. Jones solo performance Nov 16, 3 & 7PM
The Whitney Museum Edge of Ailey exhibit New York, NY
Prep for summer touring Rehearsals June 16-27
Jacob’s Pillow Becket, MA
PIC BENEFITS
Legacy Circle
$100,000 Annual Commitment
All Chairperson’s Circle benefits, plus:
• Annual private dinner for you and a guest with Bill T. Jones, alongside his artistic collaboraters.
• Prominent sponsorship credit
Chairperson’s Circle
$60,000 Annual | 5 Year Commitment
All Producers Circle benefits, plus:
• Guided tour of BTJ archives with a Curator at New York Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center
• Prominent sponsorship credit
Producers Circle
$40,000 Annual | 5 Year Commitment
All Leadership Circle benefits, plus:
• Complimentary tickets for you and a guest to any Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company performance anywhere in the world
• Season pass for you and a guest to enjoy one show per production of any New York Live Arts season performance
Leadership Circle
$30,000 Annual | 5 Year Commitment
• Exclusive access to VIP rehearsals, discussions, and closed performance showings with Bill T. Jones, dancers, and collaborators.
• Two complimentary tickets to Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company premieres (pending availability) with concierge ticket service for additional tour dates.
• Special backstage access and individually tailored opportunities to meet with dancers, production staff, and collaborators.
• Invitations to partner cocktail receptions and social gatherings.
• Annual updates, behind-the-scenes photos, and insights into the artistic process, including ideas, inspiration, and designs.
• Special recognition with a PIC credit listing in performance programs and on the website.
FUNDING SOURCES & HOW WE SPEND THEM
SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR NEW WORK....
Photo by Maria Baranova