Bill T. Jones is black, gay, and HIV positive man who has not only survived all of these things, but created beautiful works from them. One of the reasons I was so interested in his work was due to where he drew inspiration from. He pulled from the dark parts of his life – controversial topics, and turned them into beautiful pieces of art. He also made close connections with people who helped him grow and create the amazing works.

I believe the biggest influence in his career, was his partner Arnie Zane. They met in college, and became a perfect pair. During the time Jones spent with Zane, they met Lois Welk. Lois Welk introduced them to the world of contact improvisation. Jones, Zane, Welk, and another dancer Becker, formed American Dance Asylum in 1974. During this time, Jones produced works that were beautiful but with a twist. Often, he used spoken word passages and had his dancers’ improvisations react to the spoken word. He had pieces about little things bothering him all the way to huge social issues.

His interest in controversial topics only grew stronger. When Jones and Zane created the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 1982, they began to go deeper and deeper with their themes, while still exploring this idea of new media and technologies. When his partner died from AIDS. He choreographed multiple pieces about love and loss. These were highly controversial, but also highly acclaimed. One piece he wrote relating to aids and illness is titled Still / Here. He talked to people all over the country who were facing life threatening diseases. He drew inspiration from the real world, parts of the world that people usually shy away from. The following link is to an excerpt from this piece: https://vimeo.com/36236488 . It also includes the use of technology, as a small form, but still he was implementing something that not too many other people were using at the time.

A Still from Still / Here

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His works not only got people talking, but still have people talking about them today. He took everything around him in life and applied it to dance. He was inspired by not only things that were important to him, but also people and what other people were exploring such as improvisation and technology. That is why I find his work so interesting.

William Tass Jones, better known as Bill T. Jones was born on February 15th, 1952. He was raised in Wayland, New York and attended State University of New York. This is where he became interested in dance. This is also where he met Arnie Zane who later became his parter and the co-founder of their dance company.

Jones and Zane started by co founding the American Dance Asylum in 1973, with Lois Welk and Jill Becker. They choreographed dances that touched with topics like racism and AIDS, which bothered some audiences. This company is when he began working with technology, multimedia, and spoken word in dance.

Then, in 1982 the two men founded the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. They continued to create dances about controversial topics. Jone’s partner Zane died from AIDS in 1988. Jones continued to be the artist director of the company, and created powerful pieces about Zane’s death as well as the death of another member of the company.

His use of technology in dance, is what interested me the most in his work. It has also led him to collaborate with the OpenEnded Group to create amazing works. But, not only has he choreographed modern dance, he also has been involved with broadway and opera. He has received many awards for every aspect of what he has done and is truly an all around amazing artist.

Bill T. Jones has also written a memoir titled, Last Night on Earth. In it, he states, “Because art does for me what religion does– it organizes a seemingly chaotic world. Because it is my way of making sense of the world and its changes.” As an artist myself, that really resonated with me. He had an understanding about the importance of what he was doing. Not only was he creating work that meant something on so many levels, he was adding to the art world in a positive way.

The link to his company’s page is: https://newyorklivearts.org/btj-az-company/ . On it you can see more information about what his company is currently up to, as well as you can watch videos of some of the works he has created.