BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE COMPANY
Bill T. Jones
Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Janet Wong
Associate Artistic Director
Curriculum III: People, Places & Things
Program A: May 15, 16, 23 & 24, 2025 at 7:30pm
Conceived and Directed by Bill T. Jones
Choreography by Bill T. Jones with Janet Wong and the Company
Performed by Barrington Hinds, Jada Jenai, Shane Larson, Danielle Marshall, Jacoby Pruitt, Philip Strom, Hannah Seiden, Mak Thornquest, Rosa Allegra Wolff, and Huiwang Zhang
Lighting Design by Robert Wierzel*
Costumes by Liz Prince
Video Design by Janet Wong
Sound Created & Composed by David van Tieghem
Original soundscape created by John Oswald
Decor by Bjorn Amelan and Liz Prince in collaboration with Bill T. Jones
Acting Coaching by William DeMeritt
Additional musical excerpts from:
I’ll Fly Away by Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues by Bob Dylan
Keep on Pushing by The Impressions
Ursonate by Kurt Schwitters performed by Christopher Butterfield
Original text written by Performers
*Denotes Member of the United Scenic Arts Union (USA)
Memory Piece: Mr. Ailey, Alvin…the un – Ailey
Program B: May 17 & 22, 2025
Conceived, Written and Performed by Bill T. Jones
Lighting Design by Robert Wierzel*
Sound Design by James Bennett
Projection by Janet Wong
Video excerpts from:
Revelations. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Secret Pastures. Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Au Bord du Precipice. By Alvin Ailey for the Paris Opera Ballet
Musical excerpts from:
My Lover’s Prayer by Otis Redding
The End by The Doors
When the Music’s Over by The Doors
Special Thanks to the New York Performing Arts Library
Programming & Production Staff
Kyle Maude, Producing Director
Serena Wong, Lighting Supervisor
Megan Dechaine, Production Stage Manager
Dylan Richmond, Company Manager
James Bennett, Audio/Video Manager
Charles Cobbertt III, Assistant to Bill T. Jones
Cassie Dietrich, Drone Operator
The creation of new work by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is made possible in part by the company’s Partners in Creation: Anonymous (2), Anne Delaney, Zoe Eskin, Eleanor Friedman, Ruth & Stephen Hendel, Suzanne Karpas, Ellen M. Poss, Jane Bovingdon Semel, Rachel Shapiro in memory of Linda G. Shapiro, Slobodan Randjelović & Jon Stryker. Memory Piece and People, Places & Things was originally commissioned by Pat Cruz and Harlem Stage for Harlem Stages’ 40th Anniversary. Memory Piece: Mr. Ailey, Alvin…the un-Ailey was commissioned by Whitney Museum of Art as part of the Edges of Ailey Exhibit, November 2024.
Support for New York Live Arts is provided by the Arnhold Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ed Bradley Family Foundation, Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Dance/NYC, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Marta Heflin Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Alex Katz Foundation, Lambent Foundation, Alice Lawrence Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Muriel Pollia Foundation, National Performance Network, New England Foundation for the Arts, The Poss Family Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, The Semel Charitable Foundation, Scherman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Tides Foundation, Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation, and The Wege Foundation. Corporate support for New York Live Arts includes Google and Tito’s Handmade Vodka.
Public support for New York Live Arts is from National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. Dance/NYC’s New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program, made possible by Mellon Foundation.
The creation of new work by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is made possible in part by the company’s Partners in Creation: Anonymous (2), Anne Delaney, Zoe Eskin, Eleanor Friedman, Ruth & Stephen Hendel, Suzanne Karpas, Ellen M. Poss, Jane Bovingdon Semel, Rachel Shapiro in memory of Linda G. Shapiro, Slobodan Randjelović & Jon Stryker.
COMPANY HISTORY
BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE COMPANY
Over the past 43 years the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company has shaped the evolution of contemporary dance through the creation and performance of over 140 works. Founded as a multicultural dance company in 1982, the company was born of an 11-year artistic collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane. Today, the company is recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the modern dance world. The company has performed its ever-enlarging repertoire worldwide in over 200 cities in 40 countries on every major continent. In 2011, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company merged with Dance Theater Workshop to form New York Live Arts of which Bill T. Jones is the Artistic Director and Janet Wong is the Associate Artistic Director.
The repertory of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is widely varied in its subject matter, visual imagery and stylistic approach to movement, voice and stagecraft and includes musically driven works as well as works using a variety of texts. Some of its most celebrated creations are evening length works including Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land (1990, Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music); Still/Here (1994, Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, France); We Set Out Early… Visibility Was Poor (1996, Hancher Auditorium, Iowa City, IA); You Walk? (2000, European Capital of Culture 2000,Bologna, Italy); Blind Date (2006, Peak Performances at Montclair State University); Chapel/Chapter (2006, Harlem Stage Gatehouse); Fondly Do We Hope… Fervently Do We Pray (2009, Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL); Another Evening: Venice/Arsenale(2010, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy); Story/Time (2012, Peak Performances); A Rite (2013, Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill); Deep Blue Sea (2021, Park Avenue Armory).
BILL T. JONES (Artistic Director/Co-Founder/Choreographer: Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; Artistic Director: New York Live Arts) is a multi-talented artist, choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer, has received major honors ranging from the Human Rights Campaign’s 2016 Visibility Award, 2013 National Medal of Arts to a 1994 MacArthur “Genius” Award and Kennedy Center Honors in 2010. Mr. Jones was honored with the 2014 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, recognized as Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2010, inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2009 and named “An Irreplaceable Dance Treasure” by the Dance Heritage Coalition in 2000. His ventures into Broadway theater resulted in a 2010 Tony Award for Best Choreography in the critically acclaimed FELA!, the new musical co-conceived, co-written, directed and choreographed by Mr. Jones. He also earned a 2007 Tony Award for Best Choreography in Spring Awakening as well as an Obie Award for the show’s 2006 off-Broadway run. His choreography for the off-Broadway production of The Seven earned him a 2006 Lucille Lortel Award.
Mr. Jones began his dance training at the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY), where he studied classical ballet and modern dance. After living in Amsterdam, Mr. Jones returned to SUNY, where he became co-founder of the American Dance Asylum in 1973. In 1982 he formed the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company (then called Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane & Company) with his late partner, Arnie Zane. Mr. Jones is currently Artistic Director of New York Lives Arts, an organization that strives to create a robust framework in support of the nation’s dance and movement-based artists through new approaches to producing, presenting and educating. For more information, visit http://www.newyorklivearts.org/.
His work in dance has been recognized with the 2010 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award; the 2005 Wexner Prize; the 2005 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement; the 2003 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize; and the 1993 Dance Magazine Award. His additional awards include the Harlem Renaissance Award in 2005; the Dorothy B. Chandler Performing Arts Award in 1991; multiple New York Dance and Performance Bessie Awards for his works The Table Project (2001), The Breathing Show (2001), D-Man in the Waters (1989) and the Company’s groundbreaking season at the Joyce Theater (1986). In 1980, 1981 and 1982, Mr. Jones was the recipient of Choreographic Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1979 he was granted the Creative Artists Public Service Award in Choreography.
Mr. Jones was profiled on NBC Nightly News and The Today Show in 2010 and was a guest on the Colbert Report in 2009. Also in 2010, he was featured in HBO’s documentary series MASTERCLASS, which follows notable artists as they mentor aspiring young artists. In 2009, Mr. Jones appeared on one of the final episodes of Bill Moyers Journal, discussing his Lincoln suite of works. He was also one of 22 prominent black Americans featured in the HBO documentary The Black List in 2008. In 2004, ARTE France and Bel Air Media produced Bill T. Jones–Solos, highlighting three of his iconic solos from a cinematic point of view. The making of Still/Here was the subject of a documentary by Bill Moyers and David Grubin entitled Bill T. Jones: Still/Here with Bill Moyers in 1997. Additional television credits include telecasts of his works Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land (1992) and Fever Swamp (1985) on PBS’s “Great Performances” Series. In 2001, D-Man in the Waters was broadcast on the Emmy-winning documentary Free to Dance.
Bill T. Jones’s interest in new media and digital technology has resulted in collaborations with the team of Paul Kaiser, Shelley Eshkar and Marc Downie, now known as OpenEnded Group. The collaborations include After Ghostcatching – the 10th Anniversary re-imagining of Ghostcatching (2010, SITE Sante Fe Eighth International Biennial); 22 (2004, Arizona State University’s Institute for Studies In The Arts and Technology, Tempe, AZ); and Ghostcatching – A Virtual Dance Installation (1999, Cooper Union, New York, NY).
He has received honorary doctorates from Yale University, Art Institute of Chicago, Bard College, Columbia College, Skidmore College, the Juilliard School, Swarthmore College and the State University of New York at Binghamton Distinguished Alumni Award, where he began his dance training with studies in classical ballet and modern dance.
Mr. Jones’s memoir, Last Night on Earth, was published by Pantheon Books in 1995. An in-depth look at the work of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane can be found in Body Against Body: The Dance and Other Collaborations of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, published by Station Hill Press in 1989. Hyperion Books published Dance, a children’s book written by Bill T. Jones and photographer Susan Kuklin in 1998. Mr. Jones contributed to Continuous Replay: The Photography of Arnie Zane, published by MIT Press in 1999. Jones’s most recent book, Story/Time: The Life of an Idea, was published in 2014 by Princeton University Press.
In addition to his Company and Broadway work, Mr. Jones also choreographed Sir Michael Tippet’s New Year (1990) for Houston Grand Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. His Mother of Three Sons was performed at the Munich Biennale, New York City Opera and the Houston Grand Opera. Mr. Jones also directed Lost in the Stars for the Boston Lyric Opera. Additional theater projects include co-directing Perfect Courage with Rhodessa Jones for Festival 2000 in 1990. In 1994, he directed Derek Walcott’s Dream on Monkey Mountain for The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN.
ARNIE ZANE (Co-Founder/Choreographer) (1948-1988) was a native New Yorker born in the Bronx and educated at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. In 1971, Arnie Zane and Bill T. Jones began their long collaboration in choreography and in 1973 formed the American Dance Asylum in Binghamton with Lois Welk. Mr. Zane’s first recognition in the arts came as a photographer when he received a Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS) Fellowship in 1973. Mr. Zane was the recipient of a second CAPS Fellowship in 1981 for choreography, as well as two Choreographic Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1983 and 1984). In 1980, Mr. Zane was co-recipient, with Bill T. Jones, of the German Critics Award for his work, Blauvelt Mountain. Rotary Action, a duet with Mr. Jones, was filmed for television, co-produced by WGBH-TV Boston and Channel 4 in London.
PERFORMER PROFILES
Photography by Stephanie Crousillat
BARRINGTON HINDS (performer) is from West Palm Beach, Florida. He began his training at the School of Ballet Florida under the direction of Marie Hale. Hinds holds a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase College and has worked professionally with VERB Ballets, Northwest Professional Dance Project, and the national tour of Twyla Tharp’s Broadway show, Movin’ Out. In 2011 Hinds was honored as a finalist for the Clive Barnes Award for young talent in dance. He has worked with leading choreographers including Laurie Stallings, Edgar Zendejas, Sarah Slipper, Helen Pickett, Thaddeus Davis, and Cherylyn Lavagnino to name a few. Hinds has also danced with the Stephen Petronio Company and has freelanced in commercial, TV, and print work. In addition Hinds is also a choreographer and teacher. His work has been shown at Purchase College, Dixon Place, Warwick Summer Festival, Arts On Site, and The Tank. Barrington has been a Performer with the Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Company since 2017. You can follow him @bar_hinds and his website www.barringtonhinds.com
JADA JENAI (performer) born and bred in Brooklyn is a performing artist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from SUNY Purchase & minor in Arts Management. Since graduating, Jenai has established a vibrant career, initially dancing for the acclaimed Kyle Abraham, Abraham in Motion before joining Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in 2021. Throughout their tenure with Bill T. Jones, Jenai has worn multiple hats, excelling both as a performer and as company manager. Their role extends beyond the stage; Jenai is deeply committed to nurturing the next generation of dancers, teaching at their home studio, Creative Outlet, and contributing as a teacher with MOVE|NYC|. In addition to their dance career, she freelances as a model and works in administrative roles across various art communities. With a passion for both performance and behind-the-scenes work, Jenai is thrilled to bring their talents back to their hometown, marking a significant and personal milestone in their artistic journey with the company. IG @jadajenai
SHANE LARSON (performer) was raised in Minnesota, where he received his early training at the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. He graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. He also studied at SEAD in Austria. Since living in New York City, he’s branched out to collaborate with punk musicians, film makers, improvisational music ensembles, and site-specific visual artists. He is also a multimedia video artist who makes collage-based work about memory. Shane joined the Company in 2015. IG: @shanelarson
DANIELLE MARSHALL (performer) is a native of Atlanta, GA. She received her early dance training from DeKalb School of the Arts, Phusion Performing Arts Alliance, and City Gate Dance Theater. In 2019, she graduated summa cum laude from the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. program, studying dance & Pre-Health for Physical Therapy. During her time at Ailey/Fordham, Ms. Marshall had the opportunity to perform works by her colleagues and notable choreographers such as Adam Barruch, Amy Hall Garner, and Maxine Steinman. Marshall is also a certified Horton instructor. Danielle joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in 2021.
JACOBY PRUITT (performer) Jacoby Pruitt is a New York City based performer, teaching artist, and choreographer. He began his dance training in Miami, Fl where he attended New World School of the Arts. He is an honors graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of Dance and the recipient of the Martha Hill Dance Fund’s “Young Professional” Award (2015) as well as a New York Dance & Performance Bessie Award (2022) . Jacoby has danced with Ailey II, Company XIV, & The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, among other choreographers and freelance opportunities. His tv & film credits include Good Morning America, Comedy Central’s “Alternatino”, In The Heights (film) & music videos for various recording artists including Fletcher, Lexxe, Chad Lawson, & Loren Allred. He is currently a guest artist with the Sean Curran Company, a collaborator with Kimberly Bartosik/ Daela, and a performer with the Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Company. He joined the company in 2021. IG: @Jacobypruitt
HANNAH SEIDEN (performer) Hannah Seiden, from Boulder, CO, is a dance artist based in New York City. She graduated with honors from NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a B.F.A. in Dance. She has performed both nationally and internationally in works by Alexis Blake, Ohad Naharin, Shannon Gillen, Larry Keigwin, Merce Cunningham, Sonya Tayeh, Kate Harpootlian, Stacey Tookey, and various others. She was a founding member of MICHIYAYA Dance and a guest artist with Boston Dance Theater. She has choreographed and danced in music videos, films, and ads for numerous artists and companies including THINX, MAC Cosmetics, Ambar Lucid, Racysuits and more. This past year, she was featured in Mean Girls the Musical with choreography by Kyle Hanagami. Hannah makes her own work and also choreographs and teaches various styles of dance and Pilates to people of all ages. She is elated and honored to join Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in 2024. IG: @hbseiden
PHILIP STROM (performer) was raised in Washington State where began his dance training under the direction of Debra Pearse Rogo. He received his BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and attended Springboard Danse Montreal’s 2018 project performing in original works by Maxine Doyle of Punchdrunk, and Emese Nagy of MA•ZE. Strom has worked professionally with choreographers Gabrielle Johnson, Hari Krishnan, Andrea Ward, Cherylyn Lavagnino, Bennyroyce Royon, Jordan Ryder and Andrea Ward. Philip is an Artistic Associate of Bennyroyce Royon, having rehearsal directed Royon’s company, assisted them in choreographic processes, and staged their work. Philip is also a teaching artist, having regularly instructed at his home studio, and been a guest faculty member at the Ballet Hispánico School of Dance Professional Studies program and Summer Intensive. Philip joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company as a Guest Artist in 2023 and a full company member in 2024.
MAK THORNQUEST (performer) Mak Thornquest (they/them) is a trans, Idaho-born dancer, writer, choreographer and first-generation college graduate. They received their BFA in Dance from the California Institute of the Arts in 2022 and has since relocated to New York City. Mak was a 2023 Artist in Residence with Ghostlight Residency (Los Angeles, CA) alongside their creative partner Max Martin, 2020 Artist in Residence at MING Studios (Boise, ID),and is a two time Alexa Rose Foundation grantee. As a company artist with Sidra Bell Dance New York, Mak performed in their Bessie Award nominated show IN | REP in October of 2022. In April of 2023, Mak debuted of their original work, an echo that doesn’t rhyme, in collaboration with composer Daniel Newman-Lessler, commissioned by Hear Now Music Festival. Notable performance credits include works by Trisha Brown, Danielle Agami, Peter Chu, Yusha-Marie Sorzano, and Merce Cunningham at venues including Arts On Site, Gibney, REDCAT LA, Los Angeles Dance Project, Hauser & Wirth, and the Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. They are immeasurably excited to join Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in 2024!
ROSA ALLEGRA WOLF (performer) Rosa Allegra Wolff is a world builder, sparking melancholic and electrifying truths through dance, choreography, and photography. Raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, Rosa received their early training at Sharron Miller’s Academy for the Performing Arts and the Lydia Johnson Dance School. Rosa is a 2024 New Choreography Grant recipient through the Eryc Taylor Dance Company and was a choreography fellow with MovingForwardDance run by Madi Hicks. Rosa graduated from George Mason School of Dance in 2023 with honors in choreographic excellence. Their creations weave in self-produced music, photography, collaboration, and deep breaths. Rosa has had the honor to perform with companies and artists including Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hardknocks, RogueWave Dance Company, Theatre in Quarantine run by Joshua William Gelb, Christina Robson, Joseph Hernandez, Heather Robles, Paris Cullen, and Sarah Zucchero. Having grown up inspired by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Rosa is thrilled to have joined the company in 2024.
HUIWANG ZHANG (performer) was born in Jiujiang, China. He is a dancer, choreographer and teacher based in New York. Zhang’s movement research and teaching are inspired by his training in Chinese Classical Dance, Beijing Opera and teachers like Jennifer Nugent, Stephen Koester, Eric Handman, Katharina Christl and Janet Wong. He earned his M.F.A from the University of Utah in 2017. He has been honored to restage company repertoire Continuous Replay on universities as well as leading community workshops and education outreach for the company nationally since 2018. As a choreographer, Zhang has been selected for creative residencies that include the Mare Nostrum Elements: Emerging Choreographer Series, Take Roots at Green Space, and Topaz Arts. He assisted Seán Curran setting choreography for the world premiere of M. Butterfly at Santa Fe Opera. You are welcome to learn more about Zhang’s work at www.huiwangzhang.info
COLLABORATORS
COLLABORATORS
JAMES BENNETT (Sound Design for Memory Piece) James Worth Bennett is a freelance sound designer, engineer, and multimedia artist residing in Lenapehoking. Originally from Tsalaguwetiyi (North Alabama) he received his BFA in Theatrical Design from the University of Montevallo. He is privileged to work at New York Live Arts as an audio and video engineer. His sound design has recently been heard in “Untitled Ukraine Project” at the New Ohio Theatre, where he previously worked as a Technical Director on the Ice Factory Festival and more. More about him can be found at jamesworthbennett.com.
CHARLES COBBERTT III (Assistant to Bill T. Jones) A resident in West Orange, New Jersey. Charles earned a Bachelor’s degree at Montclair State University. Previous work includes being involved in production, stage management, and prop management. Specifically taking place at progressive theater and Vanguard theater in New Jersey as well as The New Group in New York City. Charles is happily excited to become a part of another theater project after a long awaited year. He can’t wait to see what talent that the performers and staff have in order to make this performance shine.
WILLIAM DEMERITT (Acting Coach) is an actor, director, writer, acting/speech/accent coach, and award-winning audiobook narrator. William’s on screen credits include: HBO’s The Normal Heart, “NCIS: New Orleans”, Our Son, “The Flight Attendant”, and the upcoming, “The Floaters”. On stage William has appeared on Broadway, internationally, and in regional theatres throughout the United States.
LIZ PRINCE (Costume Designer) designs costumes for dance, theater and film and has had the great pleasure of designing for Bill T. Jones since 1991. Her work has been exhibited at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Rockland Center for the Arts and Snug Harbor Cultural Center. She received a 1990 New York Dance and Performance Award (BESSIE) and a 2008 Charles Flint Kellogg Arts and Letters Award from Bard College. She teaches costume design at SUNY Purchase College Manhattanville College, and Sarah Lawrence College.
DAVID VAN TIEGHEM (Music and Sound Designer) Selected Broadway: How I Learned to Drive, Burn This, Doubt, Heisenberg, The Gin Game, The Lyons, Romeo and Juliet, The Big Knife, Reckless, Arcadia, The Normal Heart, After Miss Julie, A Behanding in Spokane, A Man for All Seasons, Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Crucible, Three Days of Rain, An Enemy of the People, The Good Body. Selected Off-Broadway: Wit, Incognito, Plenty, Sabina, Henry V, Corpus Christi, The Piano Lesson, The Grey Zone. Dance: Twyla Tharp, STREB, Doug Varone, Pilobolus, Boston Ballet, Michael Moschen. Film/TV: Buried Prayers, Working Girls, Me To Play, Penn & Teller. Percussionist: Laurie Anderson, Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Steve Reich, Arthur Russell, Pink Floyd, Nona Hendryx, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Robert Ashley, Peter Gordon. Solo Performances: Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, BAM, the Knitting Factory, Town Hall, Jacob’s Pillow, Whitney Museum, Venice Biennale, David Letterman. Albums: “Thrown for a Loop,” “Strange Cargo,” “Safety in Numbers,” “These Things Happen.”
ROBERT WIERZEL (Lighting Designer) has worked with artists in theatre, dance, new music, opera and museums, on stages throughout the country and abroad. He has worked with choreographer Bill T. Jones and his company since 1985. Projects include Blind Date, Another Evening: I Bow Down, Still/Here, You Walk?, Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land, How To Walk An Elephant, and We Set Out Early… Visibility Was Poor. Other works with Bill T. Jones include projects at the Guthrie Theatre, Lyon Opera Ballet, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Boston Ballet, Boston Lyric Opera, the Welsh dance company Diversions, and London’s Contemporary Dance Trust. Robert has also worked with choreographers Trisha Brown, Doug Varone, Donna Uchizono, Larry Goldhuber, Heidi Latsky, Sean Curran, Molissa Fenley, Susan Marshall, Margo Sappington, Alonzo King and JoAnn Fregalette-Jansen. Additional credits include national and international opera companies, Broadway, and regional theater. Mr. Wierzel is currently on the faculty of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and The Yale School of Drama.
JANET WONG (Associate Artistic Director/Video Designer) was born in Hong Kong and trained in Hong Kong and London. Upon graduation she joined the Berlin Ballet where she first met Bill when he was invited to choreograph on the company. In 1993, she moved to New York to pursue other interests. Ms. Wong became Rehearsal Director of the Company in 1996, Associate Artistic Director in August 2006 and Associate Artistic Director of New York Live Arts in 2016.
PROGRAMMING AND PRODUCTION STAFF BIOS
JAMES BENNETT (Audio/Video Manager) James Worth Bennett is a freelance sound designer, engineer, and multimedia artist residing in Lenapehoking. Originally from Tsalaguwetiyi (North Alabama) he received his BFA in Theatrical Design from the University of Montevallo. He is privileged to work at New York Live Arts as an audio and video engineer. His sound design has recently been heard in “Untitled Ukraine Project” at the New Ohio Theatre, where he previously worked as a Technical Director on the Ice Factory Festival and more. More about him can be found at jamesworthbennett.com.
MEGAN DECHAINE (Production Stage Manager) is a New York City based stage manager originally from Washington State. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in Theatre. Selected credits include: the American Dance Festival, Sleep No More, Mimi Garrard Dance, Jody Oberfelder Projects, Sara Juli, Bellingham Repertory Dance, and Kuntz and Company. Megan joined the Company in 2022.
KYLE MAUDE (Producing Director) graduated from Drake University with a B.F.A. in Theatre. She has worked with Ballet Tech/Feld Ballets New York, The Royal Ballet School of London, Buglisi-Foreman Dance, and Lesbian Pulp-o-Rama! Ms. Maude joined the Company in 2003 and served as the Company’s Production Stage Manager for ten years, then Director of Producing and Touring for three years before becoming Producing Director for New York Live Arts in 2016.
DYLAN RICHMOND (Company Manager) recently graduated cum laude from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in Dance and English. At Bowdoin, he received the President’s Award for his exceptional achievements and contributions to the college. An alum of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Dylan has presented his research at Yale University and UCLA, as well as a performance at the African Diasporic Dance Summit at Connecticut College. His poetry is published in several regional and national journals and is included in an anthology for contemporary writers of color who have connections to the American Northeast. Dylan is filled to the brim with gratitude and excitement upon joining New York Live Arts this year.
SERENA WONG (Lighting Supervisor) is a Brooklyn-based freelance lighting designer for theater, opera, and dance. Her designs have been seen at New York Live Arts, Danspace, Irondale Arts Center, and Jacob’s Pillow. She is the resident lighting designer for New York Theatre Ballet and enjoys beekeeping and bread baking.