Connecting On An Emotional Level
Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company returns with Cleveland alum

The Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company is coming to Cleveland performing Jones' latest work, Fondly Do We Hope...Fervently Do We Pray, a danced, spoken, and sung meditation on the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Performing with the company will be Cleveland's own Antonio Brown, a graduate of Cleveland School of the Arts and the Juilliard School. We spoke with Brown by phone and got the lowdown.



Cool Cleveland: How long have you been in the company?
Antonio Brown: I got in in 2007.

And when did you graduate from Juilliard?
AB: In 2007. I actually got into the company a little before I graduated.

World's shortest job hunt in the world's worst job market. How much difference did Juilliard make to Jones? Did you feel that he looked at you differently knowing you were from Juilliard?
AB: Bill picks people who interest him in some way. I don't necessarily feel that because I went to Juilliard he paid special attention to me; I think it was something he saw within me. He and Janet sometimes joke, "Oh, you went to Juilliard so you can do that." [Janet Wong is Jones' long-time Artistic Associate; she participates in artistic decisions, chooses dancers, directs rehearsals; in Fondly she's also credited with Video Design.]

Was it an open audition?
AB: I went to an open audition, made it through the first day and got a call back to come back the next day. Then we did some more work with the company and I got another call back to come back the next week and work with the company during the whole week so they could see how I interacted with the company and how I worked in the rehearsal setting. Then at the end of the week Bill and I sat down and had a talk and he asked me if I wanted to join the company.

So it really was a question of what you could do and what you had inside and not just a question of presenting your diploma. Still, how was Juilliard? Was it a good place for you?
AB: Juilliard was a great place for me! It really broadened my scope of dance. It introduced me to very fundamental, basic techniques in modern and in ballet. When I was first there as a freshman it was almost like starting over, learning the basics and the fundamentals and incorporating that into your body. Then, as the years went on, you just expanded the vocabulary. So now I feel like I'll still be dancing when I'm 60 or 70 because I know how to apply the technical aspects of dance to how my body works.

That's a real endorsement. You really feel like they helped you. They made you dig down deep and develop sound fundamentals.
AB: Yes. It was really helpful. And aside from the technique classes, we got to work with so many amazing choreographers.

Go ahead, dazzle me. I'm sure they brought in amazing people.
AB: Ohad Naharin was one of my favorite people to work with...

Ah! Naharin is Artistic Director and Choreographer for Batsheva, the Israeli modern dance company that performed in Cleveland in 2006. A big name. His improvisational method is called Gaga. Now you know Gaga.
AB: Yes. (Laughs) Elliot Feld...

Oh! Another very big name well known to Cleveland audiences. Feld was one of the most important voices in contemporary American ballet from the 70's until he folded his company, Ballet Tech, in 2003.
AB: Azure Barton, Susan Marshall.

Wow! More very big names. Barton is one of the 5 or 6 hottest ballet choreographers today. Marshall is a modern dance choreographer who goes back to the 70's. You know, I remember seeing you dance when you were at Cleveland School of the Arts. You were a stand out because you had real ballet chops.
AB: Thank you. I really tried to work on that. You have to have a strong ballet vocabulary and a strong ballet technique to do anything in dance.

Who were your teachers at Cleveland School of the Arts?
AB: All the way back in 6th grade, my first teachers were Loretta Simone, Bill Wade, and Courtney Laves.

Oh, Courtney was your first ballet teacher. I saw her just today at her school. Were you in Bill Wade's performing group, the YARD?
AB: Yes, I was in the YARD until 9th grade when Bill left, and I was in Loretta's group, Urban Dance Collective. After Courtney left, Sheila Eli was my ballet teacher for a while and then in my senior year Kay Eichman came in and taught ballet. Terrence Greene came in when I was in 9th grade to teach modern and he's still there.

Kay's not there anymore, I know. Who's CSA's ballet teacher now?
AB: They don't even have a ballet teacher now because of cutbacks, but I believe in January they're supposed to have a new ballet teacher come in.

I hear that you will be teaching the master class there while Jones / Zane is in town.
AB: Yes. It'll be nice because some of the kids who were there when I was there are seniors getting ready to graduate so it's going to be nice to see how they have grown.

So what's the tour like?
AB: We're going to be very busy. Right now we're doing lots of US domestic, which is always great. Dallas, North Carolina, back out tomorrow to Hanover, Michigan, then Vermont and we'll be in Cleveland after that. Then things get a little more exciting; we go to Italy, Hungary, Israel.

Anything you'd like to tell students in middle school or high school who might be considering studying the arts?
AB: I'd like to tell them to dedicate themselves, really invest themselves in what they're doing. No matter what the art form is, if it's something that you love then you should keep fulfilling your passion for it. I love to dance and I want to keep dancing as long as I can. The world is hard and life is hard but there's also lots of enjoyment, passion, fun in doing what you love to do.

What do our readers need to know about Fondly Do We Hope... Fervently Do We Pray?
AB: In a way I can't talk about the piece because I've never really seen it, but I feel that it's really beautiful, that it tells a story and connects with audiences on an emotional level.

You realize that we're obligated to touch on the negative side of Bill and his work? Jones has been a poster boy in the culture wars since the 70's when he and Zane performed as an openly gay, mixed race couple. To this day, the mere mention of "Bill T. Jones" provokes outrage in some.
AB: I don't think people are going to be angry about this piece. I've witnessed Bill coming from different places. He cares so much about his art form, he's willing to take risks, and sometimes people don't like what he has to say, but I feel that in this piece people will understand what he's saying and will not be offended.



Yes, we gather from our reading that Bill has put his outrageousness aside for this piece. For video of Fondly Do We Hope... Fervently Do We Pray as well as a Bill T. Jones interview with Bill Moyers about the new work, go to www.billtjones.org. Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company is co-presented by Cuyahoga Community College and Dance Cleveland. One performance only at 8PM Sat 1/30 at the Ohio Theatre. Tickets $25 to $50. Phone 216-241-6000 or go to http://www.playhousesquare.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributors Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas. Elsa and Vic are both longtime Clevelanders. Elsa is a landscape designer. She studied ballet as an avocation for 2 decades. Vic has been a dancer and dance teacher for most of his working life, performing in a number of dance companies in NYC and Cleveland. They write about dance as a way to learn more and keep in touch with the dance community. E-mail them at vicnelsaATearthlink.net.