Dance Review: A Superb Revival Here, Then Gone

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, “Still/Here,” Royce Hall, Los Angeles, Mar. 5, 2026

Mar. 8, 2026 | By Bruce R. Feldman

In Brief: The Jones company performed a potent full-length dance and theatre piece with grace, vitality, and conviction. It was here in Los Angeles for one night only. Kick yourself if you missed it.

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in Still/Here. (Photo: Nir Arieli)

In 1992, Bill Jones conducted the first of what he called “survival workshops.” They were, as he explained, “an experiment to see what, if anything, could be collected from the experiences of people living with life-threatening illnesses that would inform a dance/theater work.”

A few years later, Still/Here premiered as a stunning evening-length work, performed by ten dancers and intended to reflect and commemorate the struggles, pain, humanity, and universality of the people he interviewed.

Thirty years on, it’s still a persuasive, emotive performance piece that lives up to its reputation, as this superb revival proves.

The work opens with several dancers in turn taking center stage to call out the first names of each of the workshop participants coupled with a brief expressive phrase they used: “I assaulted God. Her eyes. Her eyes. I remember her eyes,” “I am thankful for my life,” for example.

At this point there’s no music, movement is rudimentary, it’s an acting exercise, one that the dancers are more than capable of. Soon Kenneth Frazelle’s dissociative score begins to insinuate itself and the dancing becomes more complex, animated, and varied.

Hannah Seiden in Still /Here. (Photo: Nir Arieli)

In the first half of the two-act ballet, Jones composes one rapid sequence after another. The phrases and groupings appear disjointed but at the same time feel harmonious.

In a lesser creative talent this shouldn’t work, but Jones is at the height of his powers here, and so it does. The overall effect is mesmerizing.

In the second half the dancers perform as a more integrated corps to music by Vernon Reid. The choreography feels more intentional, still abstract while systematically building to a powerful crescendo of sadness, exhilaration, and catharsis.

The contrast between the two acts is further empahsized in the choice of costumes. Whereas in the first act they are dressed simply all in white, in the second act the company is sporting playful, bold red outfits.

Through both acts, the company’s modern dancers expressed effortless strength and precision with balletic elegance and nuance. And Jones lets the distinctive personalities of each one shine through. He’s looking for harmony and emotional intensity, not uniformity.

Though they were only ten, the dancers filled the large Royce Hall stage as if they were a larger company. This plus Gretchen Bender’s geometric set designs, her video screens displaying random faces and for some of the time a beating human heart, and Robert Wierzel’s heady lighting accentuated the ballet’s emotional underpinnings and made us feel as if we were watching a much bigger production.

Let’s hope that Still/Here is being performed another 30 years from now to enthrall and impassion a new generation of dance audiences.

"Still/Here," Royce Hall, UCLA 340 Royce Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90095, 310-825-2101, www.cap.ucla.edu/