Leaving His Mark

When I first watched the “Still/Here” excerpt, I was extremely confused by the odd movement and the repetition of the phrase “tell me how to fight.” I didn’t know how to interpret the dance until after I read Zita Allen’s critique, “The Revolution Will Be Danced.”

Allen brings to light the role of minority groups in the arts, specifically dance, and talks about how Bill T. Jones was able to blend the arts with current problems in our society like persecution of minority groups and terminal diseases creating a controversial piece that brought to light the many ails of our modern society. But what was really controversial was Jones’ portrayal of such a sensitive topic, such as death and disease, in a form of art. Like Allen said, “The issue was not Jones’ blackness and his artistic statements regarding historical, social, political, or economic persecution; instead, it was Jones’ decision to highlight issues of living with HIV, cancer, or other “terminal” illnesses.” He had mixed “theater and reality” and some people believed this was completely ignorant and wrong. But in my opinion, who are we to say what is right and what is wrong? For all we know, all of the 10 dancers in Jones’ videos, who were representing survivors of terminal diseases, were participating to raise and promote awareness. Their goal was not to “victimize” the survivors, like Arlene Croce said in her piece “Discussing the Undiscussable,” but rather to support those battling with AIDS, breast cancer, and other life-threatening diseases.

Jones’ sole purpose was to create a link between reality and topics that people try hard to ignore. Death and disease are inevitable in this world – just like hunger, poverty, and plague.  We can’t ignore them because these problems will never go away (as sad as it is to hear). All of these are natural and a part of life, and it is useless to sweep these things aside in order to avoid heated debates or uncomfortable conversations. Instead of shying away from controversial topics like this, Jones tries to bring them to light to open up people’s eyes. He incorporated his thoughts and concerns into dance, a form of expression for him, and just because some people were not necessarily able to handle it, they were quick to criticize it.