Renowned choreographer and dancer Bill T. Jones presented the annual Hansmann Lecture in the Hamilton College Chapel on Saturday, Oct. 14. In Jones's lecture, titled "The Persistence of Questioning: A Survival Technique Finding a Place Where Thought and Action Meet," he spoke about his career in dance and the meaning of modern art. The event was part of the weekend's dedication ceremonies for the new Charlean and Wayland Blood Fitness and Dance Center.
Hamilton Associate Professor of Dance Bruce Walczyk introduced Bill T. Jones, saying that his work brings emotion, intellect, physicality and humor to dance, and has influenced many composers after him. Jones began by speaking about his 1990 piece, "Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land," which he called "a rumination on liberation theory, history and identity." The work, which included the themes of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in the style of a 19th century children's play as well as a stylized version of the biblical story of Job, culminated with the entire company standing nude in the "promised land," bathed in golden light.
Jones pointed out that this piece was touring at a time when the work of artists such as photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was causing controversy in Congress over what kinds of art the National Endowment for the Arts should be funding. According to Jones, it was a time when people were saying that the arts cannot be trusted, and that work such as Mapplethorpe's was not what the American people saw as valuable art. It was at this time that Jones composed and performed "Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin," which he said was a means of pulling together his many strands of influence in a kind of "grand summation." As with most grand summations, however, Jones said that the work raised more questions than it answered - questions such as: can we overcome? can we use art to make the world right? can we use art to eliminate fear?
"Our bodies are as mysterious as the social contract that connects them to one another," Jones remarked, saying that he began dancing because he needed another way to live in his body and exercise this social contract. He said that in 1970 he decided to channel his anger and hopefulness by becoming an artist, in hopes of being a more effective citizen through the grand tradition of using dance to speak.
Jones told the story of an undergraduate cinema class at SUNY Binghamton in which he watched a short film that consisted only of the image of a boat on the water with the word "sailboat" superimposed over it. While many in his class found the film boring, Jones's professor showed him that work which may seem the most boring is in fact the most nourishing. Being able to watch yourself watching is the true meaning of art, Jones said. Citing the words of artist Robert Irwin, Jones said that "the ability of humans to see and to aesthetically order the world is the one pure subject of art."
Modernism in art is often thought to be unreal, Jones said, but this is a mistake that comes from treating humanism and the human figure as one and the same. No good artists try to make their art obscure or unreal. The implicit meaning of abstraction in modern art, Jones said, is the viewer's responsibility to finish the piece by bringing themselves into it and watching themselves viewing it. Like Robert Irwin, Jones believes that art is not a subject in itself, but really an object to allow for the understanding of the infinite space where the outside world and the viewer's mind meet. When people say that Jones's work in pieces such as "Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin" is verbose, complex and moralistic, he argues that the real purpose of the piece is for the viewer to experience their own reactions to it and to see what questions simmer to the surface. He emphasized that listening, observing and questioning is the process of experiencing art.
Jones's company, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, is currently performing a work he composed called "Blind Date." Created after the last presidential election and reacting to America's current political situation, this piece reflects on our culture's obsession with honor, courage, valor and security. All of these concepts, which are often given as answers, can be rephrased as questions in art, Jones said. He concluded that, in seeking the truth, audiences must listen to the persistence of their own questions.
Jones's lecture was part of the annual Doris M. and Ralph E. Hansmann Lecture Series, which was established in 1993 in honor of Mr. Hansmann, Class of 1940.
-- by Caroline Russell O'Shea '07
