“Still/Here” is a contemporary dance-theater piece that shows representation of Americans living with terminal illnesses through movement. Credit: Courtesy of Erik Pepple
Thirty years after its creation in Columbus, “Still/Here” returns to Mershon Auditorium at the Wexner Center for the Arts Friday, bringing a powerful and emotional story of Americans living with terminal illness to the stage for one night only.
Presented by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, the two-act contemporary dance-theater piece by Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane was largely created on-site at the Wex in 1994 as an Artist Residency Award project, before premiering in Lyon, France. Since then, it has toured internationally, bringing representation and sharing personal experiences through words, images and movement.
“It’s beautiful choreography, beautiful storytelling,” said Elena Perantoni, senior producer for performing arts at the Wex. “It’s got this kind of a melancholy theme, but ultimately what comes out on the piece is hope and connection and celebrating the lives of the people that inspired this piece.”
The return of the piece reestablishes its Columbus roots, bringing back history and reflecting the Wexner Center’s ongoing commitment to supporting contemporary artists.
“The Wexner Center for the Arts really prides ourselves on championing contemporary artists and giving them the space to create,” Perantoni said.
Being created in the height of the AIDS crisis, a period that deeply impacted the dance community in New York, brought up deeper artistic reflection of survival and illness. While grounded in that time, Bonjour said the piece covers stories of individuals with experiences ranging in illnesses, translating their experiences into movement and imagery.
“The focus on terminal illness is wider than that, but that was, I think, in everybody’s consciousness at the time,” said Nathalie Bonjour, head of performing arts at the Wex.
“Now we’re in different times, but there are still, you know, obviously so many people affected by terminal illnesses.”
As a performance work, “Still/Here” emphasizes how meaning shifts when the story is portrayed through movement, rather than language alone.??
“There is language in the piece, but it was also — again — a time in the history of dance where [people were] exploring pedestrian movements or in that case, replicating the movements of patients, of people who were ill,” Bonjour said. “We all know at some point, also, language sort of goes away when somebody’s terminally ill.”
Beyond the message of the performance, Perantoni said the piece emphasizes the power of contemporary dance and theater as a shared experience, inviting the audience to gather and experience the piece in real time.
“We are experiencing this with everyone else that’s in the theater with us,” Perantoni said. “A big part of this piece is about community and about listening to each other and really taking in each other’s stories and holding space for those … I think that having it in this format is the perfect way for us to talk about this subject matter.”???
Three decades from its original creation, Bonjour said the themes at the heart of “Still/Here” remain relevant. In revisiting the work on its anniversary, the company offers both a reflection on its origins and opportunity for new audiences to engage with a piece that continues to explore what it means to connect and remember.
“It sticks with you, but the one thing you can do is go out and talk about it and talk about it with the people that sat next to you or a stranger in the lobby,” Perantoni said. “It’s such a powerful way of storytelling that really focuses on community, which the piece does as well.”
According to the Wex’s website, tickets are on sale in person or online. Assigned seats are $20 to $50 for Wex members, $24 to $66 for the general public, $24 to $61 for adults 55 and older and $18 for students.
