There are so many reasons that this dancer and choreographer is important to both myself and the dance world. His controversial works help to open up the minds of his audience to new experiences and seeing his perspective in a bold light. Jones has inspired me to be daring in my own choreography and to be more open to speaking and using text while dancing. He is so inspired by his own life as well as the lives of others, and because of this I can take pieces of my own life experiences and see what choreography comes from them. I would love to choreograph a dance about some of my experiences while I lived in South America. The public should embrace Jones as a dancer and choreographer who isn’t afraid to be completely direct about his ideas and opinions, regardless of how controversial they are. Jones has inspired other choreographers to be bold and unapologetic in today’s dance scene. The political light that he shines onto his works captures his story that he is trying to tell with creativity and innovation. And because he makes a point to utilize different races and body shapes in his works, he is an inspiration to all dancers who may not fit into a certain stereotype of a pencil-thin bun-head. Jones’s works, many of which are currently being re-staged, are a great gift to young choreographers who are looking to make a statement. Jones puts his position on stage for everyone to see, and he thrives on the questions his position raises.
This post makes me have questions about both Bill T. Jones and you! I myself would like to hear about and see dances about your time living in South America! What an interesting thing about your life that people would not maybe know about if not for your thinking of dancing about it. This makes you very similar to Jones in that we learn a lot about his life through his dances. You made the good point that he enjoys raising questions with his work - do you think there are ways in which he answers the questions posed? What I mean is, does he make dances after the fact to answer questions he may have invoked in previous dances he's made?
ReplyDeleteI think the questions he raises are to open the eyes of the audiences and make the audience answer the questions for themselves. He makes his opinions clear through text and movement. I think that some of his dances are loosely linked to one another, however I believe that they are more linked through his opinions in politics. His liberal ideas usually flow from each dance through his choreography. He basically forces his audiences to see clear truths and make them open their eyes to injustices that happen in the world. And if I were to ever develop a dance about my time in South America, I might make one about Augusto Pinochet and his dictatorship throughout Chile, and then end with their first female president, Michelle Bachelet. While I was in Chile, the country was still recovering from Pinochet's dictatorship and I lived with a family who, oddly enough, was very much in favor of Pinochet. Perhaps I would reenact the fight I had with my host mom (in spanish) about Pinochet and what he did to the country.
ReplyDelete