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Wyoming ChronicleWyoming ChronicleBill T. Jones In modern dance circles, Jones is considered a post-modernist master. His New York-based dance troupe, the Bill T. Jones-Arnie Zane Dance Company, is credited with expanding social commentary and innovative multi-media mixes to the dance world. Jones has also won Tony awards for directing Broadway productions, including the recent hit “Fela!” Despite world fame, Jones still considers it important to visit places like Wyoming, where University dance students will perform four of his pieces in November, and encourage young artists in unlikely locations. And despite his status as a revered giant in dance, Jones tells O’Gara he still feels he has much work to do as a choreographer. As his teaching partner, Catherine Cobeen said in a separate interview, Jones burns with what the late dancer Martha Graham called “divine dissatisfaction.” UW dancers will dance in a “recreation” of Jones’ 1989 work “D-Man in the Waters” and other pieces Nov. 15-20. The UW group will also take the performance on tour to five Wyoming communities Dec. 9-14. Jones was in Laramie in late October to rehearse and critique the students, as well as give a public talk. Other Jones pieces to be performed include “Continuous Replay,” “Duet,” and “Power/Full.” The PBS documentary on Jones, airing as part of the PBS Fall Arts Festival, documents the making of Fondly Do We Hope… Fervently Do We Pray, a mixture of dance, music and spoken word inspired by Abraham Lincoln. The Chicago Sun-Times said of the piece: “the work of a mature artist at the peak of his powers… [Bill T. Jones] has created a thing of immense beauty and consequence.” This week’s short feature takes a look at the Theatre & Dance Department at the University of Wyoming. UW offers one of only a few Vertical dance curriculums in the country. Margaret Wilson talks about some unique challenges vertical dance presents to the student and how it expands the movement ‘vocabulary’ and understanding for both dancer and choreographer. University of Wyoming’s Vertical Dance program evolved in part out of performances staged at Vedauvoo, a natural rock amphitheatre near Laramie in the 1920’s. These early performances attracted as many as 1800 attendees and were revived in the late 1990’s with Margaret Wilson’s choreographies and the use of the vertical rock face. Margaret’s interview features some of the contemporary work at Vedauvoo, along with her vertical choreography, ‘Boxed Set’ performed in the theatre. Visit the local Wyoming Chronicle website for more information on this and other related programs. |
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