January 03, 2010
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company to Present New Work Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Abraham Lincoln
The local premiere of a bold new work by Bill T. Jones, will take the stage at the Ohio Theatre in PlayhouseSquare on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 at 8 p.m. Fondly Do We Hope . . . Fervently Do We Pray, an ambitious dance theatre piece presented by DANCECleveland and Cuyahoga Community College, celebrates the life and legacy of American's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, through the eyes of Jones. Tickets can be purchased at 216-241-6000 or playhousesquare.com.
Among the cast of dancers in the production is a Cleveland native, Antonio Brown, who began his dance training at the Cleveland School of the Arts. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 2007.
Fondly Do We Hope . . . Fervently Do We Pray was commissioned by and premiered at the Ravinia Festival, in Highland Park, Ill., in September. Jones says he wanted to reconcile the adoring view of Lincoln he held as a young boy growing up during the civil rights struggle with that of a mid-life artist who "has very few heroes."
"I would like to share the vision with audiences and then remove it in order to expose that great distance between what is and what could have been," Jones says.
The ambitious evening-length work, with an original score that draws from European and American concert and folk traditions, uses dance, dramatic recitation and video.
The highly honored Jones is a 2007 Tony Award winner for his choreography for Spring Awakening. The recipient of a 2007 Obie Award, he is also a MacArthur "Genius" Award recipient and was named one of American's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures by the Dance Heritage Coalition.
The Harlem-based Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company was founded after 11 years of collaboration between Jones and Arnie Zane (1948-1988). It emerged onto the international scene in 1983. Since then the 10-member company has performed worldwide in over 200 cities in 30 countries. Today, the company is recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the modern dance world.
For more information about the company, as well as a Bill T. Jones interview with Bill Moyers about the new work, go to www.billtjones.org
"Jones has made his mark with dances that rankle and push, ask questions, and often get to the very heart of who we are as human beings." Boston Globe
"Jones dancers continue to rank among the finest anywhere." Washington Post
LISTING SUMMARY
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Co-presented by Cuyahoga Community College and DANCECleveland
Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.
Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square
1501 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115
Call 216-241-6000
playhousesquare.com
ELECTRONIC PHOTOS AVAILABLE FROM PAM BARR AT 216-932-5060 or barrp@roadrunner.com
