Legendary dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones was inspired to create his dance trilogy “Analogy” after reading W. G. Sebald’s novel “The Emigrants.” The book, like Jones’s resulting oeuvre, deals with issues of persecution, trauma, war and memory.
Jones collected oral history from his mother-in-law for the first part, which tells her story of working as a nurse and social worker in Vichy France during World War Two. Part two presents the story of Jones’s nephew Lance, who struggled to hold on to his identity and his life in the drug and sex-infused underworld of New York City’s 1980s club scene.
The third part, Ambros, is most closely linked to Sebald’s novel, representing the effects trauma can have on one’s psyche. Together, the three parts are “Analogy: A Trilogy.” Beginning with the first part, each part of the trilogy will be performed on subsequent evenings at the Durham Performing Arts Center on July 27, 28 and 29.
Guest host Anita Rao talks with Bill T. Jones about his inspiration for the piece and his process for creating avant-garde performance art.
