Hutton Honors College

HHC at the IU Auditorium:
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company

Thursday, February 25, 2010 * 8 p.m. * IU Auditorium * SIGN-UP REQUIRED
Refreshments Provided * Post-performance Talkback with Bill T. Jones * Balcony Student Tickets: $13
HHC Ticket Deadline: Tuesday, Feb. 16!

In 2007, the Ravinia Festival and the IU Auditorium commissioned the award-winning Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, "recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the modern dance world," to create a performance that would commemorate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The result, Fondly Do We Hope . . . Fervently Do We Pray, is a multimedia extravaganza that explores what Abraham Lincoln meant (and means) to various people and what his legacy means now and to future generations. The performance features dance, live music, film, and the spoken word (with passages drawn from the Bible, Lincoln's writings and speeches, Walt Whitman's poetry, and other sources). A PBS documentary, A Good Man, which will explore the making of this production, will air in 2011. Since its inception in 1982, the company has performed in more than 200 cities and 30 countries around the world, including Australia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, and South Africa.

Having created more than 140 works for his own company, Bill T. Jones has also choreographed for the AXIS Dance Company, the Berlin Opera Ballet, the Boston Ballet, and many other prominent dance companies. Jones is the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, a Tony, an Obie award, and other honors. He co-founded the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 1982, and, as the artistic director of the company, he choreographs and dances in the company's productions. Jones has been featured on PBS and the Colbert Report and has received honorary doctorates from a number of prestigious universities and institutes of higher learning, including the Juilliard School. He published his memoir, Last Night on Earth, in 1995. Jones choreographed and directed the current Broadway show Fela!, a musical about the life and music of Nigerian activist and Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

After enjoying a performance of Fondly Do We Hope . . . Fervently Do We Pray at the IU Auditorium, you will have the opportunity to participate in a post-performance talkback with Bill T. Jones and members of his dance company.

If you are interested in attending this performance, please come to the HHC between 8 a.m. and noon or 1 and 5 p.m. weekdays and see Hannah Dubina in room 210H. You will need to pay for your ticket with cash or a check at that time (tickets are $13/each). The deadline to purchase tickets through the HHC is 5 p.m. Tuesday, February 16.

Current Programs | Extracurricular Home