A Good Man!/A Good Man?

A Good Man!/A Good Man?

"I live with the uneasy feeling that society has shaped me as a result of something that was stolen from us when Abraham Lincoln was killed. The cynicism and alienation that I feel in my head and heart arose because of this strange turn of destiny."--Bill T. Jones

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Bill T. Jones, center, views Abraham Lincoln's hat in the vault archives of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield on Oct. 15, 2007, with Welz Kauffman, president and chief executive of Ravinia Festival, left, and sculptor Bjorn Amelan, the creative director for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. (AP Photo/Ravinia Festival, Russell Jenkins)

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Bill T. Jones peers at Abraham Lincoln's death bed at the Chicago History Museum in Chicago on Oct. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Ravinia Festival, Russell Jenkins)Click here for the AP article

Continuing this tradition of challenging, thought provoking work, Mr. Jones is creating a new evening-length work about Abraham Lincoln (tentatively titled, A Good Man!/A Good Man?). Commissioned by the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois, A Good Man!/A Good Man? will find Mr. Jones "leading with his own heart," seeking a way to articulate if not reconcile the view of Lincoln he had as a young boy growing up during the civil rights struggle and as a mid-life liberal artist who "has very few heroes." The most ambitious project in the Company's 25 year history, A Good Man!/A Good Man? will investigate the myriad meanings of Lincoln, rejecting accepted truth in favor of challenging (and celebrating) the lasting contributions of this great man. This dance theatre work will investigate a handful of key moments from his remarkable life, allowing song and memory to transport the audience to an emotional and intellectual space beyond the boundaries of space and time. By envisioning the America that might have been had Lincoln completed the Reconstruction, Mr. Jones will expose the great distance between what is and what could have been.

 


The Lincoln Lectures:

Developed in conjunction with A Good Man!/A Good Man?, The Lincoln Lectures is a companion piece featuring Mr. Jones in a collage of spoken word, music, and movement. The piece will also feature video by associate artistic director and long-time collaborator Janet Wong. The text combines Lincoln's writings along with Jones' own ruminations on events current and other. This special evening delves into the inner workings of Jones' creative process, and sheds light on his personal journey in the creation of A Good Man!/A Good Man?







Bill's Blog

◊ Happy New Year!
January 6, 2010

...I quoted what the young Rabbi said at the memorial for Arnie Zane in April of 1988: "The day is long, the work is great, we're not obliged to finish the task, but neither are we allowed to ignore it." This was a condolence to family and friends as we honored a young, talented man whose life had abruptly ended.

◊ Where am I?...
November 28, 2009

Two days after Thanksgiving, four days since Fela! premiered on Broadway, seventeen days since Serenade/The Proposition opened at the Joyce Theater in NY, two months and ten days since Fondly Do We Hope... Fervently Do We Pray premiered at Illinois's Ravinia Festival, three months and twenty days since I last wrote a blog...

Bill T. Jones Online

Upcoming Performances

Between Us
March 16, 2010
Teatro Ariosto
Reggio Emilia, Italy
(39) 0522.458854
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Serenade/The Proposition
March 17, 2010
Teatro Valli
Reggio Emilia, Italy
(39) 0522.458854
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Serenade/The Proposition
March 19, 2010
Teatro Nuovo Giovanni
Udine, Italy
0432.248418.11
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Serenade/The Proposition
March 25 & 26, 2010
Budapest Spring Festival
Palace of Arts - Festival Theatre
Budapest, Hungary
+36 1 486.3311
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Other Events

◊ Fela! on Broadway

Opening Night
Eugene O'Neil Theater
New York, NY
November 23, 2009

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◊ Digital Incarnate: The Body, Identity, and Interactive Media

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago
Chicago, IL
February 8 to April 2, 2010

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◊ Bill T. Jones, Keith Haring, & Tseng Kwong Chi at the Paul Kasmin Gallery

Paul Kasmin Gallery
New York, NY
February 11 to March 13, 2010

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◊ Montgomery Fellow Lecture at Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College
Moore Theater, Hopkins Center
Hanover, NH
April 10, 2010
Free and open to the public

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◊ Master Class at DNA

Dance New Amsterdam
New York, NY
March 9, 11, 16 & 18, 2010

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◊ US Premiere Screening of Solos

French Institute Alliance Francaise
New York, NY
June 17, 2010

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