Lincoln Center’s Reimagined Table of Silence Project 9/11

Buglisi Dance Theatre and Lincoln Center, in partnership with Dance/NYC, present a reimagining of the Table of Silence Project 9/11, an annual free public performance ritual for peace, conceived and choreographed in 2011 by Jacqulyn Buglisi, Artistic Director of Buglisi Dance Theatre.

Reimagined for our current moment, Ms. Buglisi’s collaborators on the 2020 edition include Composer/Music Director Daniel Bernard Roumain, spoken-word poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Buglisi Dance Theatre Co-Founder/Principal Dancer Terese Capucilli.

Advertisement

The site-specific work had its first presentation on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 on Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center. Since the inaugural performance, more than 1,200 professional dancers, musicians, and singers representing the voices of the NYC arts community have performed for almost one million people across 50 states and 129 countries via livestream.

The Table of Silence Project 9/11 typically features more than 150 dancers who slowly ascend onto Josie Robertson Plaza from multiple directions with the sound of a conch shell’s call to action for peace. Moving to the minimal, plaintive strains of the flute, the “heartbeat” of bass drums, trumpet, bells, and the cries of a chorus, the dancers form three concentric circles around the iconic Revson Fountain, while repeating twelve symbolic ritualistic gestures to manifest an ancient Peace Labyrinth.

This year, Ms. Buglisi is creating a new Prologue in which 24 dancers will perform live, encircling Lincoln Center‘s Revson Fountain. Electric violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain and spoken-word poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph will be featured guest artists.

The socially-distanced performance will be live streamed from Lincoln Center beginning at 7:55am on Friday, September 11, 2020 and conclude at 8:46am, the time the first tower was hit on 9/11/01, followed by welcome remarks from industry leaders, a new world premiere film featuring dancers from around the world, and the full 2019 Table of Silence Project 9/11.

The stream will include:

• A Prologue, performed live from Lincoln Center;
• welcome remarks from industry leaders;
• an excerpt from Ms. Buglisi’s Requiem, choreographed in 2001 as an immediate response to the events of 9/11;
• the World Premiere of Études, a new three-minute film by Nel Shelby Productions that features more than 100 dancers from around the world who have been inspired by the Table of Silence Project 9/11 to create and submit small scale works recorded during the month of August;
• the full presentation of the 2019 Table of Silence Project 9/11, a public tribute to the events of 9/11 and a call to action for peace in this world during this 10th anniversary of the work’s creation.

The tribute will be streamed at LincolnCenter.org and on Lincoln Center‘s Facebook Page.

The video will also be available on-demand on LincolnCenter.org/TableOfSilenceProject and Buglisi Dance Theatre’s YouTube channel following the premiere.