MEDIA ADVISORY: Press Conference Nov. 7 to Introduce Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Residency at U.Va.

November 2, 2011 — The University of Virginia will hold a press conference Nov. 7, from 9:30 to 11 a.m., at the U.Va. Art Museum to introduce a week of performances, discussions and demonstrations by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The visit completes a three-part U.Va. residency during which Jones and company researched and developed a new dance-theater work.

U.Va. Vice Provost for the Arts Elizabeth Hutton Turner will speak and share a statement from Vice President for Research Thomas C. Skalak, followed by a Q&A session with Bill T. Jones.

Jones is an internationally renowned artist, choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer. His countless honors also include a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Award and Kennedy Center Honors. In 2009, Jones was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Jones co-founded the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 1982 with his late partner, Arnie Zane.

On Sunday, Jones will be the 2011 Arts Assembly speaker and a guest of the Virginia Film Festival  at which two Lincoln-inspired films, "A Good Man" and "100 Migrations," (which chronicles his 2008 collaboration with U.Va.) are screened and discussed.

Other residency events include a master class, an "Explorations in Black Leadership" interview with Julian Bond, a Medical Center Hour and open rehearsals. The week culminates with a performance of the Lincoln-inspired "Serenade/The Proposition," at Charlottesville's Paramount Theater. For this performance, Jones himself will take part.

A complete list of residency events is available online.

Parking for the press conference will be available behind the museum or in the museum designated spaces in the A6 parking lot at the end of Madison Bowl off Rugby Road.

Members of the media planning to attend should RSVP to Jane Ford at 434-924-4298 or jford@virginia.edu by 3 p.m. on Friday.

— By Jane Ford

Media Contact

Jane Ford

U.Va. Media Relations