Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters [Online]
July 16–30, 2021
Tickets available July 16 via Kino Marquee
Closed captioned in English.
About
Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters brings to life the creative process that culminated in Modern Dance choreographer Bill T. Jones’s tour de force ballet D-Man in the Waters, one of the most important works of art to come out of the AIDS crisis. In 1989, D-Man in the Waters gave a physical embodiment to the fear, anger, grief, and hope for salvation that the emerging Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company (who were partners at the time) felt as their community was pummeled by the AIDS epidemic.
As a group of young, present-day dancers re-interpret the work, they deepen their understanding of its power – exploring what is at stake in their own personal lives in order to commit themselves to the spirit of the piece and perform it successfully.
Photos on this page courtesy of Rosalynde LeBlanc. Detailed photo credits available here.
“Goes to the very heart of the vital role art plays in our society during times of social crisis.” – Henry Louis Gates Jr.
“A gripping ode to creativity and to the resiliency of the human spirit.” — Mikhail Baryshnikov
From Bill T. Jones:
“Roz and Tom succeeded in telescoping the story of D-Man in the Waters into the future. I look forward to the journey of this film. Because this film should not let people forget – you’re lucky in your life if you have one moment where you’re at once strong enough, brave enough, and resourceful enough to throw down and make something like D-Man in the Waters come into being. This work is not about anybody’s epidemic. It is about the dark spirit of what is happening in the world and how you push back against it.”