James R. Brudner '83 Memorial Prize and Lecture

The James R. Brudner ‘83 Memorial Prize for 2018-19 was given to Bill T. Jones, dancer and choreographer, whose Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company changed how dance spoke about identity, community and the politics of race and sexuality. Jones came to Yale on February 19 to talk about his work and his practice and to give a thrilling talk at the Whitney Humanities Center in which his words, movements and gestures captured the complex history of black sexuality and social movements that enabled his work. Tracing his life through both the LGBTQ movement and the civil rights struggle, Jones showed how he forged a practice and a company that could speak to the particular intersectional embodiments that they engendered.

Jones’s speech was exemplary also because it became a pedagogy: he requested a young dancer from the audience, from the New Haven dance community and the Neighborhood Music school, to come to the stage, where he showed how community and collaboration were central to his choreography and practice.  Walking arm and arm in a circle forward and then backward, leaning in and bearing each other’s weight, Jones simultaneously made not just an ‘art moment’ but a bridge of meaningfulness between audience and dancer - with the audience as dancer - and between Yale and New Haven.  The young dancer is a New Haven school student in a program supported by the NMS and run by Hanan Hameen.  With the support of both the Brudner committee and the NMS, the young dancers in this program became connected with Jones, most movingly at his appearance on February 19.  As Ms. Hameen wrote:

“Yesterday was beyond amazing! The young ladies of the Premiere Dance Company were in awe, inspired, and already begun sharing their highlights of the event with the Neighborhood Music School community today. This was a monumental experience for them. Thank you so much to each of you for your contribution in making this happen for our young serious dancers….We are looking forward to continuing the conversations from dinner yesterday to create a strong bridge between NMS Dance, Yale, and the overall New Haven dance community….We are looking forward to a continuing relationship with all of you….Gratitude in abundance for the opportunity and joyous experience.”

These are the kinds of connections and meanings  - material and aesthetic, ephemeral and persistent, fulfilled and unfulfilled -  that an art advocate of the brilliance of Bill T. Jones can bring, reminding us of how to think about our place in the academy and in  the city of New Haven. 

Jones also did a master class with Yale Dance Theater, which worked with Professor Emily Coates to stage his piece, "D-Man in the Waters."  Set to Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E Flat Major, “D-Man in the Waters” is one of the most significant works of art to come out of the era of AIDS. Against this tragic backdrop, the choreography is thrillingly alive—offering a portrait of a community’s ability to survive. “D-Man” significantly raises the stakes of the question: Why do we dance?  Current and former members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company worked with a group of fifteen students on a reconstruction of the dance at Yale. The project culminated in a public performance at the Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School Theater on Saturday April 20.

The Brudner Prize Committee for 2018-19: Inderpal Grewal, chair; Emily Coates, Aimée Cox, Greta LaFleur, Alice Miller, Jill Richards, and Evren Savci.