Arnie Zane (September 26, 1948 – March 30, 1988) was an American photographer, choreographer, and dancer. He is best known as the co-founder and co-artistic director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.

Early years

The second son of an Italian-Jewish family, Zane was born in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York on September 26, 1948. Zane graduated from Binghamton University (SUNY) with a degree in theater and art history. Not long afterward, Zane began pursuing an interest in photography. Though he is best known for being a dancer and choreographer, Zane began his career as a photographer. Zane was immensely interested in the human body, particularly its gestures, its movement, and its essence. Critic Jonathan Green in ''Continuous Replay: The Photographs of Arnie Zane'' has characterized Zane’s portraits as “breaking down boundaries of race and age”. Zane's exploration of these themes is evidenced in his famous pictorials of a dancing Bill T. Jones. He met Jones, the man who would later become his lifelong partner, while visiting his Alma mater. The story goes that the 22-year-old Zane was immediately enamored of Bill T. Jones (a freshman studying dance and theater at SUNY) when he spied him across campus in 1971. During that spring semester, Zane convinced Jones to travel to

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with him and explore their burgeoning romantic relationship. After living and working together in

, Zane and Jones eventually returned to

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Career in Dance and Choreography

Zane’s interest in dance began when he and Jones took Lois Welk’s

contact improvisation Contact improvisation is a form of improvised partner dancing that has been developing internationally since 1972. It involves the exploration of one's body in relationship to others by using the fundamentals of sharing weight, touch, and movemen ...

class at SUNY/Brockport. Welk’s improvisational workshop stressing the physical interdependence between dancers, fascinated Zane and sparked his passion for dance. The three (Zane, Jones, Welk) collaborated and formed the American Dance Asylum which was heavily influenced by the work of experimental dancers of the time, namely

Yvonne Rainer Yvonne Rainer (born November 24, 1934) is an American dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is regarded as challenging and experimental.

and other members of

Grand Union A grand union is a rail track junction where two double-track railway or tramway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads. A total of sixteen railroad switches (sets of points) allow streetcars (or in rarer instal ...

. Zane’s photographic interest in the body and his interest in visual design shaped his approach to choreography. Zane and Jones would utilize their physical differences (Zane was short and white, and moved with an agitated energy; Jones was tall and black, and moved with a generous grace) to create an image that was beautiful in its oddity. Their pieces would fuse Jones' power and grace with Zane’s quick and wiry movement. Indeed, the still pictures of their dances together are especially striking and memorable. After touring internationally for two years as a modern dance duo with the American Dance Asylum, they formed the Bill T. Jones-Arnie Zane Company in 1982. The next year, their company would appear at the Next Wave festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Over the years, the Bill T. Jones-Arnie Zane company has garnered much admiration for its creation of its own brand of postmodern dance which has become known for energetic dances set to narrative texts and postmodern music. Zane and Jones choreography often explored issues such as racism, religion, sexism, and the nuclear age. They created the trilogy ''Monkey Run Road'', ''Blauvelt Mountain'' (both 1979), and ''Valley Cottage'' (1980) (for which Helen Thorington composed the sound scores). In 1984, Zane and Jones achieved box office success and created ''Secret Pastures''. In ''Secret Pastures'', Zane played a mad scientist who creates a fabricated man (Jones). Zane and Jones also collaborated on ''Ritual Ruckus (How to Walk an Elephant)'' for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1985.

Awards

Zane received his first award in the arts for photography when he received a Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS) Fellowship in 1973. He was also the recipient of a second CAPS Fellowship in 1981 for choreography, as well as two Choreographic

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

ships from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

(1983 and 1984). In 1980, Zane was co-recipient, with Bill T. Jones, of the German Critics Award for his work, ''Blauvelt Mountain''.

Death

Zane died on March 30, 1988, at the age of 39 of

AIDS-related lymphoma AIDS-related lymphoma describes lymphomas occurring in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ( AIDS). A lymphoma is a type of cancer arising from lymphoid cells. In AIDS, the incidences of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, primary cerebral lymp ...

at his home in Valley Cottage, N.Y.''A Partner Exits, a Solo Begins''
Jennifer Dunning, ''

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'', November 4, 1990. Following his death, Jones choreographed ''Absence'', a piece that evoked the memory of his late lover and partner Arnie Zane. ''Absence'' addresses the varied feelings associated with mourning. After a 1989 performance of ''Absence'', writer Robert Jones described the piece as "a shimmering, ecstatic quality that was euphoric and almost unbearably moving." Tobi Tobias, dance critic for'' New York'', said that the work took "its shape from Zane's special loves: still images and highly wrought, emotion-saturated vocal music."

References

External links