Dance company and Lincoln Center string quartet partner for two evenings at CU's Schwartz Center

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the Orion String Quartet present two evenings of chamber works, March 26 and 27, at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. Photos courtesy of the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance

Experience the visionary fusion of dance and music as the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the Orion String Quartet take the stage at the Cornell Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts March 26 and 27 at 8 p.m. Tickets for this extraordinary evening of original music and dance are $25 (students/seniors) and $35. Call the Schwartz Center box office at 254-ARTS for tickets and information.

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the Orion String Quartet will present different programs on March 26 and 27. The March 26 performance will feature some of Bill T. Jones' newer works in collaboration with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The first, "Worldwithout/In," set to music by contemporary Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag, creates a fantasyland with animal masks, long blue veils and fake money. The second, "Verbum," set to Beethoven's String Quartet in F (op. 135), is a delicate and forceful piece that utilizes a wide range of motion in tandem with large metal structures. The third piece, "Black Suzanne," features daredevil tumbling among a Japanese-inspired set performed to the accompaniment of Shostakovich's Octet (op.11). The March 27 performance will feature three repertory pieces -- the two pieces by Beethoven and Kurtag and also the company's signature work "D-Man in the Waters."

Jones has journeyed from being a track star at nearby Binghamton University to the founder of a successful 20-year professional dance company with the late Arnie Zane. A fearless and enthusiastic choreographer and dancer, Jones has originated more than 50 works for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. He also has created dances for Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Boston Ballet and Berlin Opera Ballet. Jones has been the recipient of several fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and two Bessie awards for his work "D-Man in the Waters." His memoirs, Last Night on Earth, were published by Pantheon Books in 1995. An in-depth look at the work of Jones and Zane can be found in Body Against Body: The Dance and Other Collaborations of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane published in 1989 by Station Hill Press.

After collaborating with the Orion String Quartet in 1998 for a benefit auction in New York, Jones was inspired to continue choreographing to classical compositions, and a spring 2002 tour was planned to showcase the work of dancers and musicians alike. The Orion String Quartet is one of the most admired chamber ensembles on the international music scene and performs in the world's leading concert halls. The Orion String Quartet is the quartet-in-residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at New York Mannes College of Music.