World-renowned choreographer and MacArthur Genius Award and National Medal of the Arts recipient Bill T. Jones and his Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company embark on a national tour with their critically acclaimed new dance/theater piece Analogy/Dora: Tramontane.
The tour will lead the company to seven cities in North America, including Dance St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, Sept 30 - October 1, 2016; University of Akron presented by Dance Cleveland, Akron, OH, October 9, 2016; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, October 14, 2016; Lafayette College, Easton, PA, October 18, 2016; August Wilson Center, Pittsburgh, PA, October 21-22, 2016; Joyce Theater, New York, NY, October 27-29 and November 1, 2, 5 & 6, 2016 and University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, February 3, 2017.
Since its premiere in 2015, Analogy/Dora: Tramontane has both thrilled and moved audiences with its honesty, compassion and, above all, its humanity. The new dance/theatre production "vividly depicts a refugee's journey... and suggests the power art has to challenge us and possibly alter our future," comments NJArts. The performance "awakens our senses," states Robert Johnson, NJArts' dance critic and is "startlingly powerful" says Hyperallergic.
The piece is based on interviews Jones conducted with 95-year-old Dora Amelan, a French Jewish nurse and social worker. Set amid a 20th-century Europe shattered by war and racism, the piece chronicles her early life in Belgium, her mother's death as the German army was marching into Belgium and her experiences working for a children's aid society at an underground Jewish organization in Vichy, France.
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane is the first part of Bill T. Jones trilogy, Analogy: A Trilogy, developed by Bill T. Jones with Associate Artistic Director Janet Wong. Inspired by W.G Sebald's award-winning novel The Emigrants, Jones' trilogy explores how text, storytelling and movement pull and push against each other creating other experiences through the combination and recombination of these elements.
Members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company will be conducting a week-long residency, October 3-7, 2016 teaching dance classes and conducting lectures at the University of Akron at the Centre for Dance and Theatre (Guzzetta Hall) leading up to the performance in Akron.
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane was commissioned by Peak Performances at Montclair State University and co-commissioned by Dancers' Workshop and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.Bill T. Jones is one of the world's foremost multi-talented artists with an illustrious and award-winning career as a dancer, choreographer, theater director and writer. He has received major honors ranging from a 1994 MacArthur Genius Award to a 2010 Kennedy Center Honor to a 2013 National Medal of Arts. Jones was recognized as Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2010, inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009 and named "An Irreplaceable Dance Treasure" by the Dance Heritage Coalition in 2000. His creations on Broadway include the highly acclaimed "Spring Awakening" and "FELA!", for which he won 2007 and 2010 Tony Awards for Best Choreography.
New York Live Arts serves as home base for Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and is the company's sole producer, providing support and the environment to originate innovative and challenging new work for the Company and New York's creative community. Located in the heart of Chelsea in New York City, New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry offering audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation and active engagement with the social, political and cultural currents of our time.
New York Live Arts produces and presents dance, music and theater performances in its 20,000 square-foot home, which includes a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square-foot studios. New York Live Arts offers an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people and supports the continuing professional development of artists.
The creation of new work by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is made possible by the Company's Partners in Creation: Anne Delaney, Zoe Eskin, Eleanor Friedman and Carol Tolan.
Watch a trailer for Analogy: Dora Tramontane below!
TOURING SCHEDULE:
ANALOGY/DORA: TRAMONTANE
Sept 30 & October 1, 2016, 8PM Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane
Dance St. Louis
Touhill Performing Arts Center
St Louis, MO
October 9, 2016, 3PM Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane
Dance Cleveland and University of Akron
EJ Thomas Hall
Akron, OH
October 14, 2016, 8PM Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane George Mason University
Center for the Arts
Fairfax, VA
October 18, 2016, 8PM Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane
Lafayette College
Williams Center for the Arts
Easton, PA
October 21 & 22, 2016, 8PM Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane August Wilson Center
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Pittsburgh, PA
October 27-29 & November 1, 2, 5 & 6, 2016
October 27, 28 & November 5, 8PM
October 29 & November 6, 2PM
November 1 & 2, 730PM Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane Joyce Theater
New York, NY (NYC Premiere)
February 3, 2017, 8PM Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane
University of North Carolina Greensboro
Aycock Auditorium
Greensboro, NC
