MULTI-MEDIA PHANTASMAGORIA OF THE LINCOLN IMPACT, 1809-2009 
                                              By Paul Hertelendy 
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of Oct. 2-9, 2009
                                                                  Vol. 12, No. 19
          Philosophy is a show that closes Saturday night. But not this one---no, no, never! <> 
            A profound piece of dance-theater on Abe Lincoln came vibrantly to life at the Yerba Buena Gardens Theatre, propelled by an elaborate staging and multi-media elements on a scale that the Bill T. Jones company had never shown here in countless previous visits.
            It’s more a philosophical piece than a historical one, with abundant narration on liberty, reunification, states rights, and the abomination of wars up through the present day. The Narrator (actor Jamyl Dobson)  is variously a figure of Lincoln’s circle, today’s Every Man, the anti-war protestor, and the symbol of a society’s evolution. Starting with the concept of a Lincoln bicentennial commemoration, choreographer Jones broadened his message to many issues, many times, and many incidents having some sort of root structure within Lincoln’s life. It stretches from Lincoln’s train ride to Washington all the way to more modern cannon-fire effects (pick your war---any war). 
            Though this new evening-length “Fondly Do We Hope…Fervently We Pray” was premiered outdoors in Ravinia last summer, it was skillfully altered and, I think, improved to profit from the proscenium theater, the sophisticated lighting, and the many projections. It’s a piece that has now truly come into its own. 
            The result, played without intermission, had immense impact on the opening-night audience Oct. 1. With just 10 of the (multi-racial) Jones dancers, it was both intimate and gigantic at the same time, sprinkled with a true kaleidoscope of elements: live music amplified, folk songs and spirituals, poems of Walt Whitman, the Book of Revelations, and of course Lincoln quotes. Plus strobe lights, explosions and train sounds. 
            The narrative texts jointly drafted by Jones and collaborator Janet Wong touch on many raw nerves, delivered in counterpoint to the highly vigorous dances and leg extensions, often with the performers sprawled across the floor.
            Bjorn Amelan’s elaborate décor involved  columns (symbolizing Washington as well as the president’s rise and fall), circular see-through curtains doubling as projection screens, and a disc built out over the pit for spotlighting a dancer. Associate Director Wong also provided video designs showing silhouetted  oversize figures.
            Not all the amplified narratives were intelligible at the opener. Some parts are repetitive. And the company made a mistake in eliminating the intermission between acts one and two; the messages and signals are complex enough that they need time to sink in and be discussed in midstream.
            But Jones/Wong got their essential message across, much broader than specific ones of Lincoln’s time: In this bicentennial year of Lincoln, we again stand at crossroads, where any wrong turn can lead us into even greater peril.
            The Jones dancers were an exciting group of great agility, routinely performing leaps and stretches that most just dream about.  Even though Jones, once the star performing attraction of this troupe, no longer appears, others have taken up the slack and made its collaborative dynamism highly attractive.
            This is one of the most significant shows ever imported by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The tragedy is that it was booked for only three evenings, serving only a fraction of the audience that would logically clamor to savor this unique Jones/Wong cornucopia of ideas, perspectives and sensations.
            Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in the multi-media dance-theater piece  “Fondly Do We Hope…Fervently We Pray,” Yerba Buena Gardens Theatre, 3rd and Howard, San Francisco. Through Oct. 3. For info: (415) 978-2787, or go online. 

        ©Paul Hertelendy 2009
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           Paul Hertelendy has been covering the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with relish -- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
    These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly) will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local artists as well.
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