Scope and arrangement
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company records (1970-2016) document the work of the Company and its creators, dancer/choreographers Bill T. Jones (1952-) and Arnie Zane (1948-1988). The strengths of this collection, created by Bill T. Jones, Arnie Zane, and the staff of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, are its comprehensive documentation of all technical aspects of productions of the Company, and of the logistics of running and financing a large dance company, in New York and while touring nationally and internationally. The collection also documents original music composed for Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company productions, and how that music was produced. Jones' artistic process is documented with his choreographic notes and video recordings. The collection does not provide insight into the personal lives of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane.
Series I: Production Files documents the logistics of creating dance performances. The most extensively represented aspects of production are technical. Included here are lighting plots, designs, and cue sheets; prop lists; sheet music; sound cue sheets; and costume designs and inventories. There are occasionally notes on choreography, budgets, contracts, agreements, headshots, resumes, and correspondence with dancers, composers, and other collaborators.
Series II: Photographs includes extensive photographs of the company's productions and dancers, as well as of individuals such as Bill T. Jones, Lar Lubovich, Meredith Monk, and Arnie Zane. Photograph formats include negatives, contacts sheets, slides, and full sized prints.
The programs included in Series III comprehensively document the Company's domestic and international productions from 1980 to 2016. Publicity materials consist of articles on Jones, the Company, and its productions; as well as press releases, press kits, and other publicity materials.
Series IV: Technical Tour Files consists of working files on the cities the Company visited on domestic and international tours. These files contain technical information on the venues where the Company performed, as well as general tourist information on the cities, budgets, receipts, and sometimes publicity materials, programs, and correspondence with Jones and other Company staff members regarding the venue and performances.
Series VI: Special Projects covers benefits, galas, charitable initiatives, community projects, and performances or events that are not clearly defined as associated with a specific production or touring season. These files provide a broader picture of the Jones' and the Company's activities between 1976 and 2007. They contain correspondence, event schedules, budgets, programs, menus, guest lists, and invitations.
Series VII: General Company Records consists mainly of operational files dating from the 1980s through the 2000s. These files demonstrate the complexity of operating a large international dance company. Included here are files from Arnie Zane's office, which document his professional interests and work during the 1980s; as well as files on the many awards and tributes received by the Company and by Bill T. Jones. There are also files maintained by administrative assistants and other Company employees, containing materials such as Board meeting minutes, schedules, notes, reports, inventories, and business correspondence. The subject files cover such topics as collaboration with other companies and performing artists, board member recruitment, the challenges of trying to attract young supporters, marketing strategies, the Company's search for a permanent dance space in Upper Manhattan, and the Dance Theatre Workshop (DTW) merger. The financial challenges of running an arts organization are illustrated with grant proposals. Financial files include audit materials/year-end financial summaries, which give an overall picture of the Company's finances. Legal documents include contracts and insurance papers. Tax documents are also included, which are only available to researchers with permission from the donor.
The collection also includes a large number of posters (in Series VII) and lighting and set designs (in Series VIII) from Company productions and repertory performances; and over 3,000 audio and video recordings. More detailed description of Series IX: Audio Recordings and Series X: Video Recordings will be found at the series level.
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company records are arranged in eleven series:
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1979-201215.69 linear feet (42 containers)
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1974-20136.92 linear feet (19 containers)
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1980-201612.0 linear feet (30 containers)
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1984-20113.58 linear feet (9 containers)
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1985-20134.79 linear feet (12 containers)
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1976-20075.88 linear feet (15 containers)
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1978-201117.71 linear feet (43 containers)
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1973-20137.58 linear feet (21 containers)
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1970-20096.71 linear feet (16 containers)
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1982-2007
This collection contains audio recordings of the music used in Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company productions and Bill T. Jones' solo show, and interviews with Jones. There are also recordings of other music (arranged by composer or artist) which may have been written for or used in Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company productions, but is not identified as such.
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1974-2013
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company records include more than 2,500 video which provide a comprehensive history of the Company and Bill T. Jones' career from 1974 to 2013. These recordings document all major Company productions with rehearsal and performance footage in New York and other cities where productions premiered, as well as and on both domestic and international tours.
The most extensively documented production is Still/Here (1994), a dance piece which explores and contemplates survival, life and art through dance and music, with a visual score made from edited interviews with people who were or are facing life-threatening illnesses, including AIDS. The complete video recordings of the Survival Workshops Jones conducted in major American cities, from which the text of Stll/Here was drawn, are a highlight of the collection.
There are also video recordings of interviews, lectures, classes, and solo performances by Bill T. Jones.
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company used a code to identify the category and date of the majority of video recordings, which is documented in this inventory. The prefix designates genre (B (Broadcast), I (Interview), L (Lecture), P (Performance), R (Rehearsal), SP (Special Project), and W (Workshop); followed by the date, beginning with the last two digits of the year, followed by the digit or digits of the month, and day, and in cases where there are multiple recordings from the same day, an additional numerical sequence. For example, R921142 indicates the second rehearsal recording from November 4, 1992.