Featured News | August 3, 2015
National Medal of Arts winning dancer and choreographer, Bill T. Jones, and his company will be in residence at Dancers’ Workshop August 10-15 to perform the completed version of “Analogy/Dora: Tramontane,” the piece they developed in-part at DW during summer of 2014. DW is proud to be a co-commissioner of this new work by providing support, rehearsal space and time to BTJ/AZDC. The residency includes master classes for various levels of youth and adults in DW’s studio space (prior dance experience required), FREE open rehearsals, talkback sessions, and public performances on August 14 & 15 at 8 p.m. Key to any residency with Bill T. Jones are talk-back sessions with the audience, where Mr. Jones invites audience participation in a Q&A at each of the open rehearsals and public performances. Dancers’ Workshop is working in partnership with Jackson Hole Jewish Community as well as humanities scholar Matt Daly to further explore the themes of this dance work through visual art and creative writing. This exhibition will be on display in the Center Theater Gallery August 14-27.
OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION
A special Opening Night Celebration is planned for the first evening of the performances, Friday, August 14, when audience members will enjoy refreshments, view an art exhibition inspired by the new work, and meet the artists following the performance.
The evening begins with the opening of the exhibition, Human/Kind: Episodes in the Center Theater Gallery at 6pm. It features the visual art and writing of local artists, including the students of Jackson Hole Jewish Community’s summer kids camp, responding to the themes of Jones’ new work – Analogy/Dora:Tramontane.
A performance of Analogy/Dora:Tramontane takes place in the Center Theater at 8pm, and afterwards, the audience is invited to participate in a Q&A session with Bill T. Jones in the theater. Then, attendees and performers alike will convene in the Lobby of the Center Theater for a special “Meet the Artists” reception and champagne toast to honor the completion of the project.
Tickets for the Opening Night Celebration are $100 for all seats (a $25 student rate is available) and include the Art Exhibition Opening (6pm), Performance (8pm), and Meet-the-Artist Reception (9:30 p.m.). Please note the performance is 80 minutes in length. There is no intermission and no late seating or re-entry to the performance.
For tickets and the schedule of the week’s events, visit www.dwjh.org
ABOUT ANALOGY/DORA: TRAMONTANE
A creative collaboration between Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company (BTJ/AZDC) and the testimony from a Holocaust survivor, the legendary choreographer offers us a piece that explores the experience and memories of this young woman through dance, theater, and the spoken word. It is a portrait of the ability to persevere and survive.
The extraordinary performance combines physical movement and powerful choreography with the survivor’s narrative of working as a nurse and social worker in a detention camp in occupied France. As the piece progresses, speaking and dancing become more fluid and seamless, taking a more subtle and supportive role bringing the audience into the story of the holocaust survivor. Movement is arranged in pairs or larger groups, with dancers holding, lifting, catching, or simply barely coming into contact with one another, portraying the connection of the central character to the people she desires to help.
ABOUT DANCERS’ WORKSHOP, CO-COMMISSIONER
By providing support, rehearsal space and time to BTJ/AZDC, DW has become a co-commissioner of this new work along with Bard College and Peak Performances at Montclair State in New Jersey, helping add to the lexicon of American art. This has enabled DW to fully engage and educate our audiences on the entire process and evolution of building a work. DW is committed to supporting world-class artists and sees it as its responsibility to support the creation of new work – this is the second work of a visiting company to be co-commissioned by Dancers’ Workshop through their Artist-In-Residence program. The first was a co-commission of Guggenheim Fellow, Andrea Miller, and her company Gallim Dance during summer of 2013 of their work “Fold Here.”
Tickets on sale now: 307-733-4900 or www.dwjh.org
The Wyoming Arts Council believes that experiencing the arts should be accessible for all, including people with mental and/or physical disabilities, older adults, military/veterans, people living in institutions and those who lack access to the arts due to geographic isolation, cultural difference and economic hardship.
