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

◊ Roots, Renaissance, Revolution!
June 19, 2009

I told Anne that while I am flattered to be seen as a "revolutionary" it would be more accurate and less pompous if I said simply that I am a survivor working with every tool I have to make work, maintain an organization (will we always be a dance company?) and stay in touch with that impulse that lead me to this life in the first place.

◊ Looking for Lincoln
May 5, 2009

A dance theater work about Mr. Lincoln as I conceive it comes with some obstacles. They might be roughly delineated by these two familiar categories: form and content. Formally, I remain suspicious of the biopic narrative and yet, if there was ever an individual and an era, which cried out for a narrative it is this man and that time.

Bill T. Jones Online

Upcoming Performances

Fondly Do We Hope... Fervently Do We Pray
September 17, 19-20, 2009
Ravinia Festival
World Premiere
Chicago, IL
847.266.5100
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Fondly Do We Hope... Fervently Do We Pray
October 1-3, 2009
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Novellus Theater
San Francisco, CA
415.978.2700
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Fondly Do We Hope... Fervently Do We Pray
October 6, 2009
Granada Theater
Presented by UCSB
Santa Barbara, CA
805.899.2222
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Fondly Do We Hope... Fervently Do We Pray
October 9, 2009
Barclay Theatre
Irvine, CA
949.854.4646
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Other Events

◊ Maija Garcia Contemporary Workshop

Maija Garcia of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Associate Choreographer of Fela! A New Musical
New York, NY
Aug 17, 2009 - Aug 22, 2009
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◊ Bill T. Jones Solos Screening

American Dance Festival
Durham, NC
July 10-12, 2009

Bill T. Jones Solos film screened at American Dance Festival's Dancing for the Camera: International Festival of Film and Video Dance.
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Buy Solos DVD

◊ Summer Scoops Live with The Wall Street Journal

Lincoln Center
New York, NY
August 18, 2009

Stew and Heidi Rodewald, join Bill T. Jones, Janet Wong and Bjorn Amelan, to explore the pleasures and pitfalls of artistic partnerships.
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◊ Visiting Artist-Scholar Residency

Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY
2009-2010

Bill T. Jones conducts residency activities at Skidmore College as the 2009-2010 McCormack Artist Scholar in Residence.
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◊ Videodanse Film Festival

Centre Pompidou
Paris, France
October 21 - November 23, 2009

Still/Here featured during the free Videodanse Festival at the Centre Pompidou.
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