A Quarreling Pair
Part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival
Sep 30, Oct 2—4 at 7:30pm
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Based on the play by Jane Bowles
Directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones
"...a complex, dreamlike world in which their imaginations run playfully, riotously wild."—The New York Times
Bill T. Jones first appeared at BAM in 1983, a momentous occasion that marked the debut of his company, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and the arrival of a choreographer whose bold, kinetically arresting explorations of identity, form, and culture have helped to remap the modern dance landscape. Perceptive and profoundly curious about what makes us tick, Jones uses a dazzling range of movement, music, text, and imagery to delve into emotionally rich, often volatile territory.
In the company's 25th anniversary season, social commentary takes an intimate turn with A Quarreling Pair, based on the Jane Bowles puppet play about two elderly sisters, one of whom wants to leave the nest. It's her strange journey, as re-imagined by Jones, that unleashes pure and gorgeous dancing punctuated by a scheming vaudevillian, a nasty cross-dresser, a bawdy emcee, and many others. Beautifully designed (by Bjorn Amelan) and magical, A Quarreling Pair plays with notions of family, self-realization, and courage, taking us on a time-bending voyage.
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
Running time: 95min, no intermission
Tickets: $20, 40, 55
Set design by Bjorn G. Amelan
Lighting design by Robert Wierzel
Costume design by Liz Prince
Video design by Janet Wong
Sound design by Sam Crawford
Original Music Composed by Wynne Bennett, Christopher Lancaster, & George Lewis
A Quarreling Pair is the annual Richard B. Fisher Next Wave Presentation, which receives special support from the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.
Major support for A Quarreling Pair is made possible, in part, by the Company's commissioning program, "Partners in Creation" by the following donors: the Argosy Foundation, Abigail Congdon and Joe Azrack, Eleanor Friedman, Ruth and Stephen Hendel, Ellen Poss, Marcia Radosevich, and Carol H. Tolan. A Quarreling Pair was commissioned by Peak Performances @ Montclair-Arts and Cultural Programming at Montclair State University.
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Site
Featuring "Bill's Blog," Bill's bio, and other treasures from Bill and beyond. More
Review from The New York Times
Waxes the Times: "It is a wonder." More
Interview with Bill T. Jones from Salon.com
Jones on the scariness of the body, "respond[ing] to the ever-present specter of sex and death," and on whether a beautiful dance is enough. More
Biography of Jane Bowles
Bill T. Jones' latest is inspired by Bowles' 1945 puppet play about Miss Rhoda, Miss Harriet, and their struggle to cohabitate. More
PBS American Masters on Vaudeville
A Quarreling Pair is steeped in the spirit of turn-of-the-century theater. More