Bill T. Jones, Deep Blue Sea (2021)
Renowned director, choreographer, and dancer Bill T. Jones returns to Park Avenue Armory to present and perform in the world premiere of his massive new work, Deep Blue Sea, which revolves around the interplay of single and group identities. Jones, Janet Wong, and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company conceived this highly personal work in pursuit of the elusive “we” during these fractious times through a cast of 100 dancers/community members, and a deconstructed text from Martin Luther King Jr.‘s “I Have a Dream” and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
Conceived for the Wade Thompson Drill Hall, Deep Blue Sea magnifies the vast space through a visual environment by Elizabeth Diller of the architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Tony Award-nominated projection designer Peter Nigrini. Diller’s design utilizes dynamic projections, supported by theatrical lighting. This non-traditional relationship between video and theatrical lighting transforms the entire stage into a large scale, immersive screen.
An original vocal score by composer Nick Hallett and electronic soundscape by Hprizm aka High Priest, Rena Anakwe, and Holland Andrews echoes the words of King and Melville. In addition to choreographing and directing, for the first time in over 15 years, Jones himself performs.
The production creative team also includes lighting designer Robert Wierzel and costume designer Liz Prince.
World Premiere at the Park Avenue Armory, September 28, 2021
Featuring the voices of Phillip Bullock, Jay St. Flono, Shaq Hester, Prentiss Mouton, and Stacy Penson
Premiere of Full Choral Score at Mann Center, April 29, 2022
Stacy Penson, Music Director; Jay Fluellen, Choral Director
Bill T. Jones, What Problem? (2020-2021), a proscenium work, shares the same score as Deep Blue Sea
