Jones dances off with Gish Prize

Modern dance choreographer Bill T. Jones is the latest recipient of the 10-year-old Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize -- at $250,000, one of the largest arts prizes in the nation. Co-founder in 1982 of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company -- Zane died in 1988, but Jones has retained the name in honor of his professional and life partner -- Jones is best known for controversial full-evening works such as “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land,” which deals with racism, and “Still/Here,” on catastrophic illness. He will receive the award Oct. 28 at the Hudson Theater in New York. There is no application process for the prize, and it is not given through any competition. A committee of national arts leaders that changes every year makes the choices. Previous Gish Prize winners have included choreographer Merce Cunningham (2000), playwright Arthur Miller (1999), singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (1997), film and stage director Ingmar Berman (1995) and architect Frank Gehry (1994).

-- Chris Pasles