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Story/Time: The Life of an Idea

by Bill T. Jones
Princeton Univ. Sept. 2014. 108p. illus. ISBN 9780691162706. $24.95; ebk. ISBN 9781400851881. DANCE
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Characterized by the Oxford Dictionary of Dance as "a provocative and controversial choreographer," Jones, a Tony Award winner (Spring Awakening; FELA!) and recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Kennedy Center Honor, was invited by the Princeton University Center for African American Studies to deliver three Toni Morrison Lectures. In this printed record of those lectures, described by the author as "a performance yearning to be a document, a book," the centerpiece is Story/Time./span>, an exploration of Jones's dance work of the same name. In it, Jones responds to composer John Cage's theory of indeterminacy. Its 60 very short stories are printed in grids and meant to be read aloud. "Story/Time" is preceded by "Past Time" and followed by "With Time," essays that explore a variety of ideas and concepts, often in very personal terms and include a number of quotations from Cage. Several pages of photographs include records of actual performances of Story/Time.
VERDICT Readers interested in the intersection of dance, performance art, and the world of ideas will gain insight and inspiration from this thoughtful and singular work.
Reviewed by Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago , Aug 01, 2014
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