A Quarreling Pair

Description

"A richly textured and layered theatrical adventure" - The New York Times
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How do we human beings live together? How do we
co-exist with others who may be close to us, yet so very different from
ourselves? How do we live with those not only in our own household, but in
our neighborhood, our city, our country and our ever-fracturing planet?


In A Quarreling Pair, Bill T. Jones explores the dualities
between any two people and the struggle to co-habitate and to live
together against all odds.

The work is in part inspired by A Quarreling Pair, by playwright and
novelist Jane Bowles.  The play, written for two puppets, is an absurdist
meditation on the relationship of two middle-aged sisters, Harriet and
Rhoda, who sit in separate rooms and quarrel endlessly about trivial
tasks, the futility of life, and their inextricable bond. Bill T. Jones
chose this work as inspiration because "This short but powerful play has
been on my mind for nearly 20 years as I have ruminated on the idea of
partnering, onstage and off."


To Mr. Jones the play also suggests the world of entertainment, with its
strange poetry and curious songs. A Quarreling Pair  is an opportunity to
go deeper into what makes each of us performers.

"We want to clown, sing, dance. We want to explore the spirit of vaudeville, even as we keep our eye firmly on the serious dance aesthetic that has shaped the Company." -Bill T. Jones



Bill's Blog

◊ Harlem Crawl
January 22, 2008

Hey Black Man!" composer/musician Craig Harris said to me last night giving me a firm handshake in the first moments of what was to be a five hour exploratory/research/investigation tour of the Harlem scene.

◊ Happy New Year
January 9, 2008

Happy New Year!

It is raining outside Woodbox, our little retreat on the mesa of Northern New Mexico. The past two weeks have been blissfully quiet - a fitting respite after this intense though rewarding year.

Bill T. Jones Online

Recent News

◊ Wandering the World in Search of Herself
November 11, 2008

By CLAUDIA LA ROCCO
Published in the New York Times:
October 1, 2008

"From the start of "A Quarreling Pair," which opened on Tuesday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival, you feel that you have been plunged deep inside a private world."

Read Article in NY Times

◊ Village Voice Reviews A Quarreling Pair
November 11, 2008

Bill T. Jones Adapts a Poetic Puppet Play
By Deborah Jowitt

"Bill T. Jones is full of surprises. Who'd imagine he'd turn Jane Bowles's eccentrically poetic 1945 puppet play, A Quarreling Pair, into a parable in the form of a variety show....

Read Article in Village Voice

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Upcoming Performances

Chapel/Chapter
November 27-29
Creteil, France

Chapel/Chapter
December 4-5, 2008
Rome, Italy

Chapel/Chapter
January 19-25, 2009
Mercat de Flores
Barcelona, Spain

Other Events

November 11, 2008, 4:30-6:00 PM
Interview with Bill T. Jones by Deborah McDowell
Sponsored by the Carter G. Woodson Institute
Newcomb Hall Ballroom
Reception to follow
General Admission, no tickets necessary.

November 13, 2008, 12:30-1:30 PM
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Lecture/Demonstration
Paramount Theater
215 E. Main St.
Charlottesville, Virginia.
General Admission, no tickets necessary.