Bill T. Jones is an amazing, amazing dancer and choreographer. I was lucky to take classes with him when I was in college in Binghamton, New York. He, Arnie Zane and Lois Welk lived and danced in an old YMCA or school building in the wilds of Binghamton called, the American Dance Asylum. They were in Binghamton from 1973 until at least 1980.
I used to bike over there and take classes; I’d go to performances of things like contact improvisation. I saw Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane perform their work there and am forever the happier; Jones performed a solo work called Monkey Run Road there and it was like entering a sacred palace of intimate art — he talked while he danced about his family, his life, the world beyond — the likes of which I had never been exposed to.
Arnie Zane died of AIDs in 1988. The two were partners, as well as intense artistic collaborators so the company is named for the both of them. I’ve managed to make it to a few Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company performances over the years. I saw the piece, Still/Here at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and was blown away.
Jone’s choregraphy in Spring Awakening is wonderful, as is the show.
He left SUNY Binghamton in 1976 but lived/work/taught at the Dance Asylum til quite a few years later. I arrived in Binghamton in the Fall of 1976 and studied with him in the summer of 1979. Louise
Bill T. Jones left Binghamton in 1976. He was my TA at SUNY Binghamton and I went to his farewell party. The rest of your comment is correct.