Learning from a master choreographer

The 16 undergraduates who were preparing the work “Continuous Replay” for this month’s spring dance festival had a special guest at their rehearsal Jan. 18: the co-creator of that seminal dance, critically acclaimed director, dancer, and choreographer Bill T. Jones. During the session, Jones was encouraging, friendly, and funny; adjusting dancers’ positioning, urging them to “help me feel something” as they crossed the stage, and working with a duet pair on their entrance, jump, and landing. Before the rehearsal, Jones gave a lecture on the history of “Continuous Replay,” a work created as a solo by Jones’ late partner, Arnie Zane, in 1978. The piece later developed into a duet, and in the 1990s was reconceived as a group piece by Jones.