Bill T. Jones

Bill T. Jones (2009)

Bill T. Jones (born February 15, 1952 in Bunnell , Florida ) is an American dancer and choreographer.

Jones grew up in Wayland, New York and studied at Binghamton University , where he began ballet training with Percival Borde . It was here that he met his future partner Arnie Zane . After a stay in Amsterdam he returned to the university in 1973 and founded the modern dance group American Dance Asylum with Zane, Lois Welk and Jill Becker , which dealt with topics such as racism, sexual understanding of roles and AIDS.

In 1982 Jones founded the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane & Company (later Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company ) with Zane . After the death of Zane, who died of AIDS in 1988, her book Body Against Body: The Dance and Other Collaborations of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane was published in 1989 , in which Jones and Zane reflected on their work together in the company. In the years that followed, choreographies were created that are considered to be Jones' strongest, including Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin / The Promised Land (1990) and Still / Here (1994). In 2011 the company merged with the Dance Theater Workshop to form the group New York Live Arts , of which Jones became artistic director.

Jones also worked for opera and music theater and created choreographies for Michael Tippett's New Year (1990), Leroy Jenkins ' Mother of Three Sons (1991 at New York City Opera ) and Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars (1992). Among the awards that Jones received include a MacArthur Fellowship (1994), the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (2003), a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2009) and honorary membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2011) and the Kennedy Center Honor (2010). He received a Tony Award for best choreography in 2007 for Spring Awakening based on the play by Frank Wedekind , and in 2010 for Fela! , at the center of which is the Nigerian musician Fela Kuti . As early as 1995 he published (in collaboration with Peggy Gillespie ) memoirs under the title Last Night on Earth .

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Honorary Members. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed January 11, 2019 .

personal data
SURNAME	Jones, Bill T.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American dancer and choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH	February 15, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bunnell , Florida

[1] Honorary Members. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed January 11, 2019 .