BY ELIZABETH ZIMMER | With live performances postponed indefinitely, the city’s nonprofit theaters have become, in recent days, “comfort stations,” offering bathrooms, water, and Wi-Fi for protesters taking to the streets in support of Black Lives.

Choreographer Bill T. Jones, artistic director of Chelsea’s New York Live Arts, offers another kind of comfort, opening his facility quite literally, so audiences can gather on the sidewalk, masked and physically distanced, to hear him read from some deeply influential works—among them Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and the Bible.

Jones, a 68-year-old artist whose voice is as resonant as his choreographic skill, has been spending time in his Rockland County home. “This action, for me,” says Jones, of the reading (titled Action/Phase 1) “is an exploration and affirmation of the connection between the life of the mind, social evolution and the mysterious precincts of heart that inform creative people at all times, and particularly at a time with so much upheaval and uncertainty. In my isolation, I have gone through my library, which is in some way revisiting a pantheon of heroes, villains, the mausoleum of ideas, and the maternity ward of notions of what the future might be. I am reading as a way of thinking.”

Having presented this free pop-up reading on Wed, June 10, Jones repeats the event at 1pm on Sat., June 13. Attendees are invited to gather around the sidewalk located outside of New York Live Arts (219 W. 19th St., btw. Seventh & Eighth Aves.). Live Arts, whose sliding windows will open to afford good views of Jones’ lobby reading, encourages social distancing and the use of face masks. Live Arts participates in #OpenYourLobby, providing space for activists during the hours of 1-6pm, including accessible bathrooms, hand sanitizer, water, snacks, charging stations, and Wi-Fi. For more information about Live Arts programming, visit newyorklivearts.org, and see the below info.

ABOUT BILL T. JONES (Artistic Director/Co-Founder/Choreographer: Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; Artistic Director: New York Live Arts) is the Associate Artist of the 2020 Holland Festival and recipient of the 2014 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award; the 2013 National Medal of Arts; the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors; a 2010 Tony Award for Best Choreography of the critically acclaimed FELA!; a 2007 Tony Award, 2007 Obie Award, and 2006 Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation CALLAWAY Award for his choreography for Spring Awakening; the 2010 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award; the 2007 USA Eileen Harris Norton Fellowship; the 2006 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Choreography for The Seven; the 2005 Wexner Prize; the 2005 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement; the 2005 Harlem Renaissance Award; the 2003 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize; and the 1994 MacArthur “Genius” Award. In 2010, Mr. Jones was recognized as Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, and in 2000, The Dance Heritage Coalition named Mr. Jones “An Irreplaceable Dance Treasure.”

Mr. Jones choreographed and performed worldwide with his late partner, Arnie Zane, before forming the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 1982. He has created more than 140 works for his company. Mr. Jones is the Artistic Director of New York Live 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.

ABOUT NEW YORK LIVE ARTS | Located in the heart of Chelsea in New York City, New York Live Arts produces and presents dance, music and theater performances in its 20,000 square-foot home, including a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square-foot studios. New York Live Arts offers an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people; it supports the continuing professional development of performing artists. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; it is the company’s sole producer, providing support and the environment to originate innovative and challenging new work for the Company and New York’s creative community.

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