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HOTTEST TICKET STAMP OF APPROVAL continued from page 72 storytelling. I was by nature a storyteller, but I was trying to learn something about that which is nonlinear, that which is not based in narrative, trying to get at a movement expressionism." With Story/Time, Jones references a work from an earlier era of experimentation: John Cage's Indeterminacy (1959) in which the groundbreaking composer read a number of very short stories against his own compositions. In his take on that work (and Cage's embrace of randomness as a structural strategy), Jones sits at a table and recites 70 one-minute stories that share time, if not company, with Ted Coffey's score and the comings and goings of his dancers. The order of each element changes from one performance to another, an approach that challenges the notion of the fixed, finished work. The dancers' movements—motifs, phrases, The tales told through contemporary dance in tasks—are drawn from pieces spanning the comStory/Time draw on Bill T. Jones's own life. pany's 30 years. Jones's stories range from things his parents told him to a 16th-century flatulence joke involving Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Oxford. "I am a very different man than John Cage; my time is a very different time than when he came up with his stories," remarks Jones. "And yet, I am trying to toe the line, to let the process tell me—as it did him—things I could not have thought of myself." With text, sound, and movement operating independently, Story/Time possesses the potential for subtle chaos. "For the first minutes, the dance drives me crazy," admits Jones. "But there comes a moment, or at least I hope there comes a moment, when the viewer can relax. Sometimes you listen to the story; sometimes you watch the dance. Sometimes there are wonderful synchronicities in which an innocent phrase from the story collides with something you see happening onstage, and there's a certain meaning that sends you spinning." October 24–26 at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., 312-369-8330; colum.edu/dancecenter MA 74 No museum blockbuster will ever see the numbers that the Harry Potter film franchise enjoyed. And it's doubtful any art scholar will ever give J.K. Rowling a run for her money. But while films can survive without critical approval, art endures in good measure thanks to the work of critics, scholars, and historians. In recognition of that fact, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) will now bestow the Jean Goldman Book Prize for the best recent publication by a member of its faculty. The prize—which will be presented this month in a ceremony featuring best-selling satirist (and SAIC grad) David Douglas Druick, Jean Goldman, and Walter E. Massey help Sedaris—is endowed by select the honoree for the philanthropist, collector, Jean Goldman Book Prize. and former faculty member Jean Goldman. Characterizing the SAIC faculty as "an underappreciated but distinguished group that has contributed significantly to scholarship, particularly in Chicago," Goldman expects the award to not only validate the work of these individuals, but also raise the profile of the school and its faculty generally. To determine a winner, Dean of Faculty and Vice President of Academic Affairs Lisa Wainwright narrowed the roster of nominees to six from more than 30 before Goldman's committee—chaired by President and Eloise W. Martin Director Douglas Druick— began its assessment. "We looked for an original approach to the material, books that will make a significant contribution in the field and redirect thinking," notes Goldman. Books, no doubt, that may one day play a role in helping the work of one artist or emerging "ism" to endure. The award ceremony will be held on October 31 at 12 PM. For tickets and information, call the Office of Institutional Advancement at 312-499-4190 or visit saicevents@saic.edu. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GENE PITTMAN/COURTESY OF WALKER ART CENTER (STORY/TIME ); JEFF GALE (BOOKS) A new prize salutes scholarship at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 072-074_MA_SC_HT_October13.indd 74 9/17/13 12:48 PM