Bill T. Jones' Latest, Nutritious Dance
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at U.Mass. Amherst
By: Ken Ross - Nov 09, 2009
I like Bill T. Jones. He's a nice person, pleasant to interview, smart, sincere and sometimes the creator of some really amazing dances. That's why I really wanted to like "Serenade/The Proposition," Jones' ambitious, evening-length dance about Abraham Lincoln, which his group, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, performed this past Thursday at Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. But just like that really nice girl next door your parents wished you would date, we don't always like what's good for us. Guess that makes Jones the Brussels sprouts of modern dance. Thanks, but no thanks. I give Jones credit for trying to tackle such a difficult subject. Lincoln's iconic status makes him nearly impossible to humanize or depict in a multi-faceted, unsentimental way. I also give credit to Spike Jonze for trying to adapt Maurice Sendak's beloved children's book "Where The Wild Things Are" into a full-length movie. But good intentions are not good enough. Both works lacked that magical spark that makes great art great. Many of the people in the audience Thursday stood and clapped feverishly at the end of "Serenade/The Proposition." I suspect they did so because they thought that's what they were supposed to do. I'm sure their mothers were very proud of them for doing so. They also probably ate all their organic, locally-grown, Brussels sprouts for dinner before walking to the show in their fair-trade, hand-made Peruvian sandals. Me? I wish I could have clapped with the same gusto. But all I was thinking about was how fast I could get out of there and go get some non-nutritious ice cream at Bart's. Mass Mocha never tasted so good! Ken Ross writes professionally about dance and lives in Western Massachusetts. He can be reached at kenrossnow@hotmail.com
Jones has always had a weakness for political causes. You'll never see dancers just dancing on stage expressing the joy of simply dancing. His dances always mean something, always address an important or controversial topic. New Yorker dance critic Arlene Croce famously dismissed Jones' 1995 work about AIDS, "Still/Here" as victim art without actually even seeing the piece. I've seen "Still/Here." And for years, I pretty much felt the same way as Croce about Jones. I always found his dances to be too preachy, too pushy. Or even worse, his dances often didn't have enough dancing in them, a crime too many choreographers are guilty of nowadays. Posing like Greek statues or walking in slow motion isn't "adventurous" or "intriguing." It's boring. As Lady Gaga says, just dance!
Then last summer, at Jacob's Pillow in Becket, my opinion about Jones changed. His group performed "Chapel/Chapter" in the smaller, Doris Duke Theater. There, the audience sat on all four sides of the stage set up in the middle of theater. This intimate setting established just the right mood for this intimate dance first performed in 2006. The stage lit from below also added to the piece's eerie, ominous atmosphere. Several murders served as the inspiration for the dancers' movements. Murder might be normal subject matter for operas or anything on CBS after 10 p.m. But it's rare to see murder addressed in an art form normally more focused on sugar plum fairies or dancing swans. "Chapel/Chapter" is a fascinating, absorbing, disturbing work of art. I can still vividly picture the dances darting around the stage. I literally had goose bumps watching "Chapel/Chapter."
I could barely stay awake watching "Serenade/The Proposition." Often, the dancers danced as two speakers took turns reading famous speeches by Lincoln or lectures about our country's 16th President. The speakers also recited text written by Jones about a childhood family trip and the lyrics to "The Battle Hymn of The Republic." Gloria, hallelujah, was all I could think when the piece finally ended 75 minutes later.