Tisch Students - Bill T. Jones Rehearsal
An Interview with rising second year students: Bethany Puente and Kyreed Jordan
How does it feel to be back?
Kyreed: My body was not ready but it feels good and I’m really excited for what this summer has to offer.
Bethany: Yeah I’m happy to be back. The summer was what I was looking forward to during the school year so now that it’s here I’m very happy.
How have classes been with the Bill T/Arnie Zane company members?
Bethany: Really good (Kyreed nods in agreement). At first the exercises we were doing were different and really challenging, but now I think I’m getting used to it.
Kyreed: I agree - I have to approach the style that we’ve been learning from Jamal differently than how I’m used to. I’m thinking more about the minor and small details that I usually don’t always think about. There’s a lot of smaller, incremental things that I’m having to pay attention to. I love it.
What has been challenging?
Bethany: I think engaging my mind at the same time as moving physically. A lot of the exercises we do across the floor really make you think, especially the task-based exercises, which we were told Bill works with a lot, have been making me think a lot.
Kyreed: I definitely agree with that. Just different initiations and approaching the material differently than how I’m used to. Because it’s new, it’s challenging.
What have you learned about the company this week?
Bethany: One thing I’ve learned is that there is so much diversity within the company. When we had the brown bagged lunches with them, and they were talking about their experiences, it was so interesting to hear how one person was very modern-based and had no ballet training, and another was strictly just ballet trained. I like how Bill T can combine different kinds of dancers and make them look cohesive together.
Kyreed: It’s really encouraging to see how you can come from anywhere and still be a part of a great company like this one. On Monday when we had the lecture demonstration, and we were watching them rehearse, you get to see how they’re all so different. All of these diverse personalities and people coming together - almost like a whole machine, like different parts, and it works perfectly.
Bethany: Just the people in general – the diversity of race and body type – everything is so different. You have Black, Asian, White, Hispanic in the company. I love to see that. And I love how you can have a really small person partnering with a really huge person.
Kyreed: It’s like there are no boundaries in the company, which I like that! Because dance can sometimes be so strict. We stand in front of a mirror all day constantly critiquing ourselves. We break walls in a way, but we also build walls. And it really seems like there aren’t any walls in the company (chuckles).
Before coming to NYU I didn’t really know who Bill T. Jones was, and now he is so huge in my mind. Watching his repertoire, dances, and how they rehearse and hearing about the company members, I see how much Bill T and his company put so much emotional emphasis on the work. It probably is, if not more, about emotionality than it is about physicality. Bill T brings all aspects of his life, good and bad, to his work. And that for me is so cool.
What has your experience of learning the repertory been like?
Bethany: Well in our rep we’ve been learning “D-MAN in the Water” and it’s awesome, I love it so much. It’s so physical and so hard. It’s a lot of partnering. I love to be involved with other people and I like the fact that when we’re learning the material we are constantly switching partners so we don’t stay with the same person the whole class, and you get to learn how to work with different people in a short amount of time. I like how you get to meet people on a dance level. Because we always see each other and talk to each other all the time, but we don’t always get the opportunity to work so intimately with each other, and really trusting with our bodies. So I’ve been really enjoying that.
Kyreed: In our class we’ve been learning the work “Power/Full”, and Jamal renamed it “Power/Full Reimagined” for our group. It is the small details that matter, and that’s something I find challenging. We focus a lot on telling the story. We spent a lot of time discussing the story behind the rep, and how this piece came out of such controversy that was happening in Bill’s life—with himself and the company.
When Jamal told us the story behind “Power/Full” it helped us a lot to really embody the movement, to know the true impact of this piece and how it’s actually affecting people. And when you think about all the strife that Bill T. probably endured during the process of the piece we, the students, while dancing it have such a better and meaningful understanding of that emotion we’re supposed to be embodying.
I love our rep.
Additional comments?
Bethany: Well in general I really like that every week we’re going to have something different because this week by itself has taught me so much. It’s going to be really inspiring to have 6 different mentalities to take in.
Kyreed: I also feel like a week to take in every company is just enough time to soak in what they have to offer, and then adding new information from other companies on top of that is really exciting to think about.
Also I don’t know too much about most of the companies that are coming in so I’m learning just as much mentally as I am physically.
Interview by Tisch BFA student Annalise Van Even