So authenticity, identity, love, faith-- what is the idea of identity? Blackness should take a second level to the concern I have about human commonality. Transcendence. In everything that I attempt, is there a level of honesty and rigor that is inflected with all that I am, what I have gotten from the Western, modernist tradition... what I have gotten from my mother and father who were the conduits for black culture for me, what I've gotten from being a working class person. Is it all there? Is it cooking? 
-- Bill T Jones
Bill T. Jones first trained in classical ballet and modern dance at the State University of New York in Binghamton. Since then he has choreographed over 100 works and formed his own dance company with partner Arnie Zane, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The two also performed around the world before Zane passed away in 1988.
Jones choreography credits include work for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Axis Dance Company, Boston Ballet, Lyon Opera Ballet, Berlin Opera Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and Diversions
Dance Company. In 1995, the Lincoln Center commissioned a collaborative work from Jones, Toni Morrison and Max Roach for its Serious Fun Festival.
The MacArthur Foundation, known for supporting creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world, awarded Jones with its "Genius Award" in 1994. In 2007, he won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Spring Awakening, one of eight awards the show won that night.
Jones choreography credits include work for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Axis Dance Company, Boston Ballet, Lyon Opera Ballet, Berlin Opera Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and Diversions
Dance Company. In 1995, the Lincoln Center commissioned a collaborative work from Jones, Toni Morrison and Max Roach for its Serious Fun Festival.
The MacArthur Foundation, known for supporting creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world, awarded Jones with its "Genius Award" in 1994. In 2007, he won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Spring Awakening, one of eight awards the show won that night.
