Born On This Day- February 15th... Bill T Jones

When I consider Bill T Jones, I land on the irony & cruelty of HIV. Jones & his longtime partner in life & dance- Arnie Zane were both diagnosed in 1986, Zane would be gone in 1988 & 24 years later, Jones would win his second Tony Award for Fela!, which he co-created, directed, & choreographed. They had intended to accomplish it all as a team & as a couple.

Jones was born on this day 60 years ago. He would go from being the 10th of 12 children of migrant farm workers to one of the most notable, recognized modern-dance choreographers & directors of our time. They had intended to accomplish it all as a team & as a couple.

When I became aware his dance career in the late 1970s, I thought he was one of the most beautiful men ever & a dancer of extraordinary grace. Jones brought the physicality of dance into a political statement with moral outrage & intellectual considerations, a choreographer/ performer/ philosopher.


I was able to see his pieces- Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land & Still/Here on PBS.  In the aughts he turned his attention to dance on Broadway with Spring Awakening & Fela! & along the way garnered an honors & awards & honorary doctorates. In 2010 Jones was a Kennedy Center Honoree, but before then there was a Time Magazine cover, a MacArthur Award in 1994, numerous downtown dance & performance Bessie awards, the Gish prize in 2003 & Tonys in 2007 & 2010.


Now 60, Jones remains a remarkably handsome man.


“I am not usually a pleasant person to work with. Everything is do or die for me.”